—w r' i ■ ■*• - v 

V‘' k ii„v s /vj^i . 



























IRISH HOMES and IRISH HEARTS. 


LONDON 

PRINTED BY SPOTTISWOODE AND CO. 
NEW-STREET SQUARE 


\ 





CONVENT AND CHURCH OF THE HOLY CROSS, KENMARE . 





















IRISH HOMES and IRISH HEARTS. 


BY 


/ 

FANNY TAYLOR 


AUTHOR OP 

‘EASTERN HOSPITALS,’ ‘TYBORNE,’ ‘RELIGIOUS ORDERS,’ ETC. ETC. 


‘ They wish thee strong, they wish thee great, 

Thy royalty is in thy heart.* 

Aubrey de Vere. 



LONDON: 

LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. 

1867. 


(J/l rights of translation and reproduction reserved by the Author.) 




DEDIG A TION. 


J2.3 

>- 


TO THOSE 'WHO 


UNDER STRANGE SKIES AND AMID THE STILL STRANGER SCENES OF 

.‘EASTEKN HOSPITALS’ 


FIRST TAUGHT ME THE WORTH OF IRISH CHARACTER, 


THE WARMTH OF IRISH HEARTS, AND THE DEPTH OF IRISH FAITH, 


®I)is kittle look is |3ebiniteb. 






























. 



























. 








' 

#11 

























CONTENTS. 


-♦- 

CHAPTER I. 

New aspect of Irish Life.—Religious Institutions.—A glance into the 
past.—Penal Laws; their effect in Ireland.—The ancient places.— 
St. Patrick’s Day, 1715.—Beginning of better days.—The Charter 
Schools; State of Education.—HanoriaNagle; her Childhood.—Life 
in Paris.—Court of Louis XV.—The Ball.—The first Mass.—State 
of Irish Poor.—Doubt and Indecision.—A Vocation.—The first 
School at Cork.—The three R.’s—The Ursuline Nuns.—Irish Novices. 
—St. Denis and Madame Louise.—An Easter Song.— Disappoint¬ 
ment.—The ‘Presentation order.’—Christmas, 1777.—Miss Nagle’s 
Letters.—Her character; her great sufferings; her peaceful death. 
—Progress of the Order, 1791. —Convent at George’s Hill, Dublin 

page 1 


CHAPTER II. 

The Irish Sisters of Charity, not Sceurs de Charite—Dr. Murray.—Mary 
Aitkenhead ; her great beauty.—Rule of these Sisters.—St Vincent’s 
Hospital; its home-like look.—The Chapel.— Leaving Hospital.— 
Sufferings of the Patients.—The Sanatorium.—Blackrock Station.— 
Pleasant Walk.—A Castle.—Comfort of the House.—A 7 iew from the 
Tower.—A sort of Paradise.— Stanhope Street Convent.— Irish 
Servants.—Cousins in America.— Schools in Gardiner Street.—The 
Epistles.—Beauty of the Children.—St. Catherine’s Home.—Want 
of Work. — Donnybrook Green. — Magdalene Asylum. — Peculiar 
Management.—The two Systems.—Struggles and Victories.—Beauty 
of the Chapel.—The Cemetery.—Grave of the Foundress; her pic¬ 
ture ; her character.—Feast of St. Mary Magdalene.—Harold’s 
Cross.— St. Augustine’s Day.—Profession of a Nun. — Exquisite 
Chapel.—The Procession.—The Vows.—Dress of the Sisters.—Home 
for the Blind.—Happiness of the Children.—Admirable Management. 


Vlll 


CONTENTS. 


—God’s Cloister.—Misery of a blind Child.—The Listening Look.— 
Intelligence of the Blind.—Care they require.—Labour for the Blind.— 
The dying Child.—Faith.—Education of the Blind.—Play acted by 
them.—‘Come to Old Ireland.’—House at Merrion.—Beauty of the 
spot.—Laying a first stone.—Promise for the future . . page 20 


CHAPTER III. 

Katherine McAuley.—Her cell as a novice.—Sisters of Mercy.—Their 
rapid spread.—Dr. Forbes’s ‘ Memorandums.’—Form of Govern¬ 
ment.—Convent in Baggot Street.—The three works of the Order.— 
House of Mercy.—Branch Houses.—Jervis Street Infirmary; its 
Charter.—Arrival of the Sisters.—A Wedding in Hospital.—The 
Mater Misericordise Hospital.—Its Size and Importance.—Cost of 
Erection.—Dr. Bristowe’s Report.—The Cholera of 1866.—Great 
good wrought in this Hospital.—No Distinction of Creed.—Pleasing 
Contrast.—The new wing.—The Mediaeval System.—Report of the 
Council.—Speech of Judge O’Hagan.—The Cardinal Archbishop.—A 
Palace for the Poor.—Golden Bridge Refuge.—Reformation of a 
Prisoner.— ‘No Character .’—Mountjoy Prison.—The Sisters’ Influence 
over the Prisoners. — Matron of Mountjoy. — Prison School.— 
Chapels of the Prison.—The Infant School.—Touching Sight.—The 
Refuge.—Ingenious Arrangements.—Mother Mary Magdalene.—Suc¬ 
cess of her Work.—Deep Penitence of the Convicts.—A Deserted 
Childhood.—A Love Story.—Its ending.—The Mother’s Remorse.— 
Romantic Histories.—Future of the Convicts.—A Bargain.—An 
Escape.—Mother Magdalene’s influence.—The Return Ticket.— 
‘A good look at you.’—Manufacture of Lindsey.—Looms and 
Weaving.—Finances of the Refuge.—Justice of the Government 41 


CHAPTER IV. 

Blind Asylum for Boys.—The Shop.—Discomfort and Dirt.— Want of 
care.—Teachers for the Blind not easily found.—Reform needed.— 
Deaf-mutes.—School Time.—Trades for the Boys.—Difficulty of their 
Education.—Their ‘ Study.’—Their idea of Heaven.—The Race of 
Deaf-mutes.—M. Sicard.—Census of 1863.—Two Classes of Boys.— 
The Christian Brothers.—Orphanage of St. Vincent de Paul.—Deaf 
and Dumb Girls.—Silence.—The Ave Maria.—Burning Sins.—A deaf- 
and-dumb Nun.—Glasnevin Cemetery.—O’Connell’s Grave . 67 


CONTENTS. 


IX 


CHAPTER V. 

Foreign Orders.—Time for them.—Sisters of St. Vincent de Paul.— 
White Bonnets.—North William Street.—The new Orphanage.—The 
young Men in Dublin.—Artificial Flowers.—Sunday School.—Rich¬ 
mond.—The Lunatic Asylum.—St. Vincent’s Care for the Insane.— 
Sad Spectacle.—State of the Patients.—An Attack.—The Convent 
next door.—Noisy Neighbours.—A Sacrifice.—The first Benediction. 
—The Nuns’ Cemetery.—Strange Sounds.—Terrible Sight.—Success 
of the Asylum.—Petty Spite: the cup of Coffee.—Strange Phenomenon. 
—Lucid Intervals; use to be made of them.—Versatility of the 
Order of St. Vincent.—The lingerie of Val de Grace .—The most 
forsaken.—Self-abnegation.—Nursing Sisters ; their usefulness.— 
Their House and Chapel.—Suburbs of Dublin.—High Park Convent. 
—Reformatory Children.—Miniature Prisoners.—Contrast with 
Penitents.—Sad Stories.—Encouragements.—Want of Employment. 
—The Canny Scot—Vespers.—Order of the Good Shepherd.—All 
Hallows College.—Nuns of the Sacred Heart.—The Queen and Mr. 
Dargan.— The Phoenix Park.—Mount Sackville.—The Strawberry 
Beds.—St. Dominic’s Convent.—The Birds’ Nest.—Kingstown Or¬ 
phanage.—Baking bread.—Happy looking Children . . page 77 


CHAPTER VI. 

Sisters of the Faith.—St. Brigid’s Orphanage.—Painful Subject.—Sou- 
perism.—The Irish Famine.—Patience of the People.—Generosity of 
England—The Irish Church Missions.—English Gold.—Truth and 
Honour.—‘Good-bye.’—‘Jumping.’—Sale of Children.—St. Brigid’s 
Society ; its Object; mode of Management.—Irish Peasants.—Giving 
Prizes.—Miss Aylward and her Imprisonment.—Schools.—Glasnevin 
the Home of Saints.—Foster-parents in Ireland.—A Home.—Vexed 
Question of Orphanages.—Necessity of two Systems.—Economy of St. 
Brigid’s.—Routine Life and its Effects.'—Answers to Objections.— 
Girls and Boys.—Want of good Servants.—Mistakes on this head.— 
The French Plan.—A Christmas Box.—The Idiot Child and his Foster- 
mother.—The Night Refuge; its great good.—Classes of Applicants. 
—The Mass on Christmas Night.—A scanty Supper.—The Refugees. 
—The Founder of the Refuge.—His Labours for it.—Weekly Report 
of Numbers admitted.—Bridget Burke and her good Works.— The 
first Penny.—Result of Faith.—The Old Maids’ Home.—Need of Im- 


X 


CONTENTS. 


provement.—An aged Matron.—A Fairy wand.—Guilds in Dublin ; 
their Spirit.—Church of St. Francis Xavier.—Saturday Evening and 
Sunday Morning.—Ceremonial.—Faith of the Irish . page 95 


CHAPTER VII. 

Drogheda.—The River Boyne.—A twofold Character.—A Gothic Poor 
House.—Cromwell’s Batteries.—Church of Mpunt Carmel.—Horrors 
of the Siege.—St. Peter’s Church.—‘ None spared.’—Monks in Drog¬ 
heda.—The white Cornette.—A Banker’s Clerk.—Home for Factory 
Girls.—Cheap Living.—Bill of Fare.—Life at a Factory.—Night 
School.—Merriment.—A sad Prospect.—The travelling Pedlar.—The 
three Orphans.— Gate of St. Lawrence.—Sienna Convent.— Oliver 
Plunkett.—‘ Little Catherine.’—A mud Cabin.—The new Convent.— 
Woman’s Wit.—Traditions.—The Rule of St. Dominic.—Chanting in 
the Choir.—The ‘ Salve.’—Relic of Archbishop Plunkett.—His Grave 
in St. Giles’s.—His Head sent to Rome.—The Shrine for the Relic.— 
Memories of the Past.—The last Martyr under the Penal Laws.— 
The ‘ Cord.’—The ‘ Nuns’ Walk.’—A singular Costume.—Magdalene 
Tower.—Monasterboice.—A short Visit to England . . Ill 


CHAPTER VIII. 

View of Newry.—Confusion of Stations.—Misfortunes.—‘ No one at the 
other end.’—An ‘ Orange ’ Hotel.—A strange Question and Answer.— 
Cathedral at Newry.—1830.—The Poor Clares.—Assault from the 
Orangemen.—Shooting at a Nun.—Fenians and Orangemen.—Grounds 
of St. Clare’s.—Story of a Nun.—The Cemetery.—Changes wrought 
by Time.—Breaking the Enclosure.—Poor Schools.—Convent Chapel. 
—Relics.—Sisters of Mercy.—Sounds of Woe.—Foundation at 
Lurgan.—Rostrevor.—Beauty of the Spot.—The Church andConvent. 
—The Cow House.—Soupers again.—A strange Query and a merry 
Laugh.—Carlow, the Garden of Erin.—Dr. Doyle.—St. Patrick’s 
College.—Sisters of Mercy.—Middle Schools a want of the present 
day.— Castes. —Boys’ School.—A Welcome.—Limerick Races.-—The 
Shannon.—The old Monk and the Bells.—The Cathedrals, new and 
old.—A new Convent springing from an ancient one.—Schools.— 
St. Vincent’s Orphanage.—The Workhouse Infirmary.—New mode of 
management and its success.—Comfort of the Patients.—Christians, 
not Dogs.—Class of Infirmary Patients.—Work of the Sisters.— 
A Great Victory.—Hope for the Future.—The ‘ Protestant Wards.’ 


CONTENTS. 


XI 


—Justice to a Minority.—Contrast to England.—Expenditure of 
the Infirmary.—A Poor Man’s Right.—The large spirit of the 
Limerick Guardians, their Infirmary a model one.—Convent of the 
Good Shepherd.—An Heroic Soul.—Asylum and Reformatory 

paoe 123 


CHAPTER IX. 

Beauty of Cork.—The River Lee and the Cove.—Blarney Castle.— 
Father Mathew’s Statue; the Cemetery which he laid out; his 
grave; his sanctity.—Church of S. Peter and Paul, its magnificence. 
—A contrast.—Ireland then and now.—Confraternity of Girls; its 
usefulness.—A sad Answer and a sad Fate.—A ‘Romance in Real 
Life.’—£20,000 soon lost.—A Sick Bed and a Desolate Mother.— 
A Ruth-like Life. — Letters home. — Strange News. — A Long 
Journey.—A Proposal.—Refusal.—The Dying Officer.—The Christian 
Brothers and their progress.—Our Lady’s Mount and its Schools. 
—Mode of Education.—A ‘ Special Correspondent.’—Rather a 
Surprise.—By a French Artist.—The British Public.—The Chapel 
Lamp. — Instances of Gratitude. — Gerald Griffin.— Visit to his 
Grave.—His Letters from Cork.—His Life in London.—Fame.—The 
‘ Colleen Bawn.’—Presentiment fulfilled.—The Magdalene Asylum 
and a peculiar feature of it.—St. Marie’s of the Isle.—The Hospital.— 
Sunday’s Well.—The Mary Street Home.—Workhouse Girls, their 
deplorable fate.—Experiment tried.—Its Difficulties and its Success.— 
Stoppage of the good Work.—Expenses of the Home.—The value of 
£400.—The Slave Trade.—Good Sense.—Mode of Training.—Kinsale 
and its History.—Beauty of the Place.—The Convent and Schools.— 
Rapid increase of the Community.—A great Sacrifice generously 
made.—Sisters in the East.141 


CHAPTER X. 

Killarney and the Rain.—Disappointment.—The Cathedral.—A Dark 
Night.—Picturesque Scene.—Lodgings.—The Jackdaws and the 
Smoke.—An Irish Trait.—Honesty.—Drive to Ivenmare.—The 
Autumn tints.—In the Mountains.—Abbey of Holy Cross.—The 
Church and Convent.—The * Sanctus Bell.’—Church Music.— 
Olden Times.—Poverty of the People.—Want of Employment.— 
Emigration.—The Tourist Season.—Distress among the Children.— 
Literature.—Works of a Religious of this Convent.—History of 
Ireland.—Sunday at Kenmare.—A Remarkable Sermon. — The 


Xll 


CONTENTS. 


‘Parish Church.’— Soupers again. —Bad Weather. — Charleville. — 
Contrast with Killmallock.—Earls of Desmond. A Journey Thirty 
Years Ago.—Sisters of Mercy in the Provinces.—Instances of 
Generosity.—The ‘ Holy Ship.’—A long Good-bye . . page 162 


CHAPTER XI. 

Oranmore.—Effects of Emigration.—The Line from Dublin.—Glimpse 
of Maynooth.—Athlone and its History.—Irish Manners.—A Crop 
of Stones.—No Work to do.—Our Lady’s Priory.—A Village Convent. 
—Sister of Gerald Griffin.—Boys’ School.—Galway and its Memories. 
—View of the Bay.—Nuns’ Island.—History of the House, a 
Romance.—Poor Clares from Gravelines.—The Lady Deputy.— 
Persecution of the Nuns.—Exile from Dublin.—A Shadowy Bog.— 
Lough Ree.—The Duchess of Buckingham.—Cromwell’s Soldiers 
drive out the Nuns.—The Exile’s Death.—Poundation in Galway.— 
Petition to the Corporation.—The Island.—Galway Surrenders.— 
The House in Market Street.—May the 1st.—Ghosts in Choir.— 
Fresh Troubles.—Journey to London.—Queen Caroline of Anspach. 
—Restoration of the Island.—The New Convent.—A Long Inter¬ 
regnum.— The ‘Dear Island.’—Past and Present.—Workhouse 
Infirmary.—Serving of the Dinners.—Workhouse Children.—Dis¬ 
graceful Fact.—District Schools.—Acts of Parliament.—Churches in 
Galway.176 


CHAPTER XII. 

Loughrea Convent of Mount Carmel.—The Friars.—Sister Teresa.— 
The Milliner’s Shop.—St. Joseph and the Piece of Gold.—Faith 
in Prayer.—A Search for Nuns.—The Beggar Woman.—The ‘Upper 
Chamber.’—A Wish fulfilled.—Brighter Times.—The Rule relaxed. 
Mother Magdalene’s Prayer.—‘ Painting the Dead.’—A Call from 
God.—The Rule of St. Teresa restored.—A second Avila.—Feelings 
raised by a visit to Mount Carmel.—The Crown of Ireland’s work.— 
Catholic countries.—Work and contemplation exist together.—Calm 
of a Convent for Prayer.—What England has Done.—Need of Con¬ 
templation at the present day.—Sisters of Mercy at Loughrea.— 
Journey to Gort.—The Rain.—Coming home from Market.—An 
Irish Welcome.—A quiet Town.—Situation of the Convent.—The Oak 



CONTENTS. 


Xlll 


trees.—The Matin office.—The Churchyard Cross.—Scene in the 
Chapel.—Costume of the People.—An Irish Sermon.—An attentive 
Audience.—Kilmacduagh.—The Kils in Ireland.—Alarming Story. 
—Seven Churches.—Ruins of a Convent.—A Leaning Tower.— 
Lough Cooter.—The Priest and his People.—The Castle Grounds.— 
Departure of Emigrants.—Sad Partings.—A new Bonnet.—Wages in 
America.—Clare Abbey.—Irish Railways . . . page 193 


CHAPTER XIII. 

Institutions in Dublin not visited.—Christian Brothers.—Monagan and 
Glencree.—The Sisters of Loretto.—Mrs. Ball.—Rathfarnham Abbey. 
—Beautiful suburbs of Dublin.—Easy access.—Dalkey Island.—The 
Convent.—Bray and its Head.—Lovely prospect.—Loretto Abbey and 
Schools.—Drumcondra.—The ‘Red Nuns.’—St. Alphonsus Liguori. 
—Benediction.—Carmelites in Dublin.—Mitigation of the rule.— 
Carmelites in France.—Rule of St. Teresa.—Pere de Ravignan.— 
Sandymount and Lakelands Orphanage.—Anxiety of the Nuns.— 
Restoration of the rule.—Ranelagh.—Poor Clares at Harold’s Cross.— 
Work of the Nuns.—Their future.—The ancient rule of St. Clare.— 
Benada Abbey.—A Dying Wish.—Its perfect fulfilment.—Feast of St. 
Austin’s.—An Augury of Better Days ..... 208 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Impressions of Ireland.—The Fenians.—Loyalty of the Irish.—Looking 
back to the past.—Irish History little known in England.—‘ A Na¬ 
tion’s Woe.’—Revelations.—The Cromwellian Settlement.—October 
1652.—Transplantation.—A Friar in disguise.—Connaught,—Ancient 
names of the Exiles.—Touching Appeals for Mercy.—The work ac¬ 
complished.—Desolation of the Country.—Battle of the Boyne.—The 
Penal Laws, their Effect on the People.—Catholic Emancipation.— 
Recovery after Oppression.—Justice to Ireland.—The badge of Con¬ 
quest.—County Clare.—An orthodox Clerk.—Souperism.—Ministers 
to Irish Discontent.—An ‘ Aconite.’—The Bishop of Oxford.—Irish 
Church Missions and Dr. Forbes.—Fifty miles of ‘ Converts.’— 
Doubtful Statements.—The ‘ Stirabout Creed.’—Religion of the Yellow 
Stick.—Souperism and the Established Church.—The High Church 
Schools.—An aged Priest.—Souper Placards and Fenianism.— 
Nationality of the Irish.—The way in which they are ruled.—Faults 
of the People.—Irish Homes and Irish Hearts.—Success and Failure. 
—Hope for the future.217 









































IRISH HOMES and IRISH HEARTS. 


CHAPTER I. 

There is certainly no lack of books about Ireland. 
f Tours ’ and 4 Visits ’ to, and 4 Sketches ’ and 4 Scenes ’ 
in, the Emerald Isle abound on all sides ; and at the 
present time the subject of Ireland is in everybody’s 
mouth, and her wants and their remedies, her short¬ 
comings and her difficulties, are discussed on all sides. 
I do not desire to follow in this beaten track, or to 
enter into a disquisition on these vexed questions; my 
object is only to show an aspect of Irish life as it hap¬ 
pened to come under my notice—an aspect which I 
believe is little known in England, but which gives a 
stranger a very fair idea of Irish hearts and Irish 
homes. I would speak of that marvellous net of re¬ 
ligious institutions spread over the land, and of those 
deeds of charity, which in reality form a powerful 
element in Irish life. 

It would greatly tend, I believe, to a right under¬ 
standing of the state of the country, the character of the 
people, and her prospects for the future, if we would take 
due account of the religious and charitable institutions 
which have risen on Irish soil, and which have been for 

B 




2 


IRISH HOMES AND 


the most part originated and brought to maturity by the 
Irish nation themselves. Of late years the attention 
of English people has often been drawn to the admir¬ 
able religious and charitable institutions of France and 
Belgium, and they have interested us, not only on 
account of their excellence and their number, but also 
because of the wonderful celerity with which they 
sprung up after a long convulsion of anarchy and 
irreligion. Still more worthy, then, are the religious 
institutions of Ireland of notice, for they have risen 
up and flourished in spite of greater difficulties than 
have ever been contended against in any country in 
Europe. 

To understand them thoroughly it is absolutely ne¬ 
cessary to take a glance into the past history of Ireland. 
It is often made a matter of reproach to the Irish, that 
they dwell so exclusively in the history of the past as to 
unfit themselves for the duties of the present. I believe 
this evil would be greatly obviated if English people 
would remember what Irish people would perhaps do 
well to forget. For if it be unwise for the descendants 
of the injured to brood over the injuries which cannot 
now be effaced, it surely is well and fitting for the 
descendants of those who were the aggressors to regret 
the folly and injustice of their ancestors, and thus if 
possible, by a generous sympathy, to heal the rankling 
sore handed down from father to son. 

Few things strike the English visitor to Ireland more 
than the different effect which religious persecution and 
penal laws, existing for two centuries, have wrought in 
that country, as compared with their influence in Eng¬ 
land. In the latter, slowly but surely they accomplished 


IRISH HEARTS. 


3 


their end, gradually destroying the priesthood, and so 
blotting out the faith from the hearts of the people. The 
middle classes and the poor were rent from the ancient 
faith, and catholicity lingered only among a remnant 
of the nobility and gentry, and found its refuge 
within the walls of a few mansions whose owners bore 
an ancient and a stately name. Religious houses were 
swept from the land, and men and women who wished 
to consecrate themselves to God were compelled to 
seek a refuge on foreign shores. But in Ireland the 
case was different. In vain were bishops and priests 
hunted like wild beasts, their heads being sought for 
in common with those of w T olves ;* in vain was it enacted 
that to harbour them should be punished with death,f 
their faithful people would not betray them ; they were 
hidden 4 in deserts, in mountains, in dens, and in caves 
of the earth,’ loved and honoured by their scattered 
and suffering flocks as the priesthood of no other 
country had ever been. As in England, the devastator’s 
hand threw down the monasteries and the abbeys 
which had overspread the land, but the hearts of the 
people clung to them still. The 4 ancient places ’ of 
Ireland have never been deserted; still to this day the 
people carry their dead to rest beneath the shade of 
some old priory, or by the ruins of the churches which 
were once 

Set like stars around some saintly hermitage.} 

* ‘ The second beast is a priest, on whose head we lay ten pounds— 
if he he eminent more.’— Burton’s Parliamentary Diary, 1657. 

f ‘And for the Jesuits, priests, fryers, munks, and nunnes, 20 u will 
be given to any that can bring certain intelligence where any of them 
are. And whosoever doth harbour or conceal any one of them is to 
forfeit life and estate .’—Several Proceedings in Parliament, from 21 st to 
28 th of November, 1650, p. 912. } Keble. 




4 


IRISH HOMES AND 


Though long ages have passed since the Church’s 
offices have ceased, and the wind whistles through 
the broken arches, and the birds build their nests on 
the ivy-covered walls, the voice of prayer is rarely 
silent: pilgrim after pilgrim has told the f round of the 
beads’ by each ruined altar; and when sorrow and 
anguish are more than usually heavy on the soul, the 
mourner will take long journeys bare-foot along the 
roughest roads to offer up petitions where the bones 
of the saints are resting. As in England, the parish 
churches of the land were confiscated to the state 
religion, but their ministers had to content themselves 
with bare walls and empty benches; the people fled 
from them to mud cabins or mountain caves, or, if these 
failed, the blue sky was their canopy, and a heap of 
stones their altar. In one point only did these cruel 
enactments succeed : they almost entirely destroyed 
the religious orders, especially those for women ; nuns 
in their habit were dragged before magistrates, and 
driven as criminals from the cities. Here and there 
they lingered still, putting on secular attire, and often 
begging their bread; but the great mass of religious 
women, and a large proportion of men, were either 
banished from their native shores or died unable to 
leave others to fill their places. But by those who 
were left the battle was bravely and resolutely fought 
through the lapse of two long centuries, and in 1745 , 
when England had become thoroughly Protestant, 
Ireland remained Catholic to its core. In the reiom of 

O 

James the First, Lord-Deputy Chichester had been 
forced to exclaim, c I know not how the attachment to 
the Catholic Church is so deeply rooted in the hearts of 


IRISH HEARTS. 


5 

the Irish, unless it be that the very soil is infected with 
popery.’ His successor in the reign of George the 
Second could have endorsed his remark, and yet it is a 
fact that up to St. Patrick’s Day, 1745, not one single 
place of Catholic worship, of that faith professed by a 
ichole nation , was allowed by the law to be open. On 
that morning a crowd of jieople assembled in an old 
warehouse in Dublin to hear mass; the pressure was 
too great, the floor gave way, and nine persons, includ¬ 
ing the officiating priest, were crushed to death. The 
calamity attracted the notice of government and per¬ 
mission to open Catholic churches, carefully called 
4 chapels,’ was accorded. And now that light was be¬ 
ginning to dawn, and the worst heat of the battle was 
over, the generals of the army had time to count up 
the ravages that the war had wrought, and to prepare 
for the future. For the conflict was not yet over. 
Very slowly and very grudgingly justice was meted 
out. 4 The government discountenanced, and the laws 
absolutely prohibited, any education by Catholics. The 
people were sunk in the lowest state of political degra¬ 
dation. They were silent—and history makes no men¬ 
tion of their sufferings—but it was the silence of despair.’ 
Nor was the danger only a negative one. Finding that 
all efforts had failed to bring over the adult Irish to the 
new religion, and having totally deprived them of the 
means of educating their children in their own way, 
the advocates of Protestantism endeavoured to sap the 
faith of Ireland by drawing its children into their own 
schools. In 1743 there were forty-seven charter schools, 
into which every effort was made to draw Catholic chil¬ 
dren. 4 On entering them,’ writes an Irish priest, 


6 


IRISH HOMES AND 


‘ their names are changed so that they may have no 
communication with their parents, and after a little 
time they are transferred to another parish that the 
isolation may be more complete. Premiums are 
given to those who show most proficiency in the 
catechism, which is composed purposely for these 
schools and is nothing but a continuous invective 
against the Catholic church. . . . They get portions 
on condition that they marry Protestants with the 
consent of the directors of the schools.’ To these 
schools no less than one million was voted by Parlia¬ 
ment. There were various others of the same kind, 
and it was then law that all children of Catholics who 
asked for relief should be brought up as Protestants. 

At such an unpropitious time as this, and in the face 
of these tremendous difficulties, the first new order in 
Ireland sprung into being. Its foundress was a Miss 
Hanoria Nagle, who was born at Cork in 1728, and 
whose family was closely connected with that of the 
celebrated Father Mathew. Miss Nagle was not one 
of those children who give very early indications of 
being marked out to do an extraordinary work. It is 
recorded of her that she was particularly wayward, 
and gave her mother much uneasiness; but that her 
father would sometimes take her part and declare she 
c would be a saint yet.’ Perhaps there was a strength 
of character and an intensity of will in the giddy child 
which made him foresee that if she once turned with 
earnestness to serve God, it would not be done bv halves. 
Unable, as all families of the upper classes in Ireland 
then were, to procure the necessary education for their 
children at home, Miss Nagle was sent to Paris. Her 


IRISH HEARTS. 


7' 


education finished, she was plunged into a round of 
gaiety and dissipation very easily to be found in the 
brilliant court of Louis XV. But the gay, frivolous 
girl had a noble destiny before her ; and in the midst 
of her enjoyment a Divine voice made itself heard in 
her heart. There had been a grand ball in Paris, and 
the morning dawned ere the most eager of the pleasure- 
seekers—and among them Miss Nagle—were willing to 
quit the scene. At last her carriage rolled through 
the empty silent streets, and she, wearied and jaded at 
last, felt that sad void in the heart which so often suc¬ 
ceeds worldly pleasures. Suddenly her attention was 
arrested by a group of people standing at a church door. 

They were poor—those whom hard labour scarcely 
permits to snatch the necessary hours for sleep ; yet 
they were willing to forego some of this brief repose, 
that they might spend a short time with God. In 
order to be in time for the first mass, they were at the 
church doors before they Avere open. The silent lesson 
went with powerful force to Miss Nagle’s heart. When 
she and they, she mused, should stand before the 
judgment-seat to give an account of their time, Iioav 
different Avould their ansAver be ! Tears floA\ r ed from 
her eyes, and she resolved from that moment God should 
be to her all in all—a resolution she faithfully kept. 
She determined to leave the gay Avorld of Paris and 
return to Ireland. 

She at once began to occupy herself in such Avorks 
of charity as Avere AAuthin her reach; and the lamentable 
state of her poor country people thus forced itself 
on her notice, and the very magnitude of the evil 
appalled her. What could she, single-handed, do 


8 


IRISH HOMES AND 


amidst such a wilderness ? She had no private fortune ; 
and none of her friends were likely to second her efforts 
and enter into her views. Catholics of all classes had 
hardly done more than begin to breathe in safety ; and 
the richer and educated naturally desired to lead a 
quiet life, and not to stir up fresh animosity. 

One course only, therefore, seemed open to Miss 
Nagle; it was to return to France and there enter a 
religious order, devoting herself in prayer and penance 
as a victim for the sorrows and woes of her beloved 
country. So she bade farewell to all she loved, and 
sailed for France. But she was not at rest. A voice 
was whispering in her heart that the path she had 
chosen was not the one destined for her. She reasoned 
and debated with herself: one day thinking herself 
under a delusion ; the next, unable by that solution to 
stifle her doubt. Morning and night the thought of 
Ireland haunted her; and little children seemed to 
stretch out their hands to her for aid. Again and 
again she argued with herself, what could she do ? 
Had she not proved it to be useless and hopeless ? But 
no argument could quiet her mind. At last she 
resolved on seeking counsel from the Fathers of the 
Society of Jesus in Paris, in whose discernment and 
wisdom she had great confidence. To them she laid 
open 4 the agitation of her mind, her settled disgust for 
the world, her ardent desire for the religious state, her 
feeling for the poor of her own country, her strong 
propensity to contribute to their relief; that, from the 
first moment she discovered their ignorance, she could 
never divest herself of the thought; but that she 
attributed all to her heated imagination. As matters 


IRISH HEARTS. 


9 


stood, it was morally impossible for her to be of service 
to them. The penal laws were an insuperable bar, and 
she had no pecuniary resources. Her constitution was 
delicate; yet though the prospect before her if she 
returned was wretched and hazardous, and almost 
hopelesss, she felt inwardly impelled to folloAv it, she 
knew not why.’ 

She poured out her heart, and then she hoped her 
delusions would vanish, and her path to the convent 
be smooth and easy. A very different decision was 
given. ‘ She was called,’ said her guides, 4 not to re¬ 
ligious life at that moment, but to instruct ignorant 
children in Ireland.’ The want of money and freedom 
to act, and the existence of penal laws, Avere no matter; 
she must c do what she could.’ 

So astonished was Miss Nagle at such counsel, that 
she ventured to argue the point and to remonstrate; 
but all in vain; the decision remained the same. Then 
she entirely submitted herself to the Divine will, thus 
made known to her, and prepared herself for a life of 
toil, anxiety, and hardship. 

Miss Nagle’s parents were then dead, and the only 
home she had to return to was that of a married brother, 
who resided at Cork. Thither she went, and soon 
learned that a rich uncle had determined to make her 
his heiress, provided her conduct was such as should 
please him. Nothing could be more likely to displease 
both him and her brother than to carry out her intention 
of founding a school for poor children. But her pur¬ 
pose was fixed, and she commenced her work. Deter¬ 
mining to act with all possible prudence, she began in 
secret. 


10 


IRISH HOMES AND 


The first Catholic school in Cork was opened, and 
thirty children were gathered into it; and the young 
lady, not long before a Parisian belle, found her 
greatest pleasure in its care and management. Of 
course, as she expected, in time the secret came to her 
family’s ears, and a storm burst on her devoted head. 
But, angry as her relations were, they could not help 
admiring her patience and self-denial, and their op¬ 
position changed into warm support. 

Her uncle died, and left her his whole fortune en¬ 
tirely at her own disposal. In nine months the 
children had grown into two hundred, and she was 
compelled by eager demands to open schools for boys 
as well as for girls; so that she soon had five schools 
for girls and two for boys under her care. 

It is true their education was not up to the mark of 
the c Revised Code.’ In secular knowledge they were 
confined to the three R.’s; but they learned the 
catechism, were taught to say their beads, were brought 
to mass and to monthly confession. 

‘ Twice a year,’ said Miss Nagle, ‘I prepare a set 
for first communion; and I may truly say it is the 
only thing that gives me any trouble. In the first 
place, I think myself very incapable ; and in the be¬ 
ginning, being obliged to speak for upwards of four 
hours, and my chest not being as strong as it had been, 
I spat blood, which I took care to conceal, for fear of 
being prevented from instructing the poor. ... If every¬ 
one thought as little as I do of labour, they would 
have very little merit. I often think my schools will 
never bring me to heaven, as I only take delight and 
pleasure in them.... I can assure you my schools are 



IRISH HEARTS. 


11 


beginning to be of service to a great many parts of the 
world. This is a place of great trade. They are 
heard of, and my views are not for one object alone. 
If I could be of any service in saving souls in any part 
of the globe, 1 would do all in my power.’. 

And doubtless her work did not end there. The 
children poured out from her schools, and were lost to 
sight; they bore with them the seeds she had sown; 
and who can tell what fruit they brought forth—what 
treasure was lying stored up for her in eternity when, 
her long life ended, she went to her reward ? 

One sorrow only troubled her; she felt that her 
work was temporary, and that at her death the fabric 
she had raised might probably fall to the ground. 
Neither had the desire for religious life ever left her 
heart. She therefore formed the idea of inviting a 
religious community to come over from France and 
undertake the work ; and her project was approved of 
by Father Doran, S.J., and his nephew the Abbe 
Moylan, afterwards Bishop of Cork. 

In 1769 an application was made to the Ursuline 
house in Paris, which had been founded sixty years 
before by the saintly Madame Acarie. But the 
thought of an Irish foundation terrified the French 
nuns. No one could conceal from them that it en¬ 
tailed certainly severe hardships, and not improbably 
risk and danger. The penal laws were still unre¬ 
pealed, and any outburst of popular fury might put 

them ao-ain in force. The Ursulines would not come; 
© 

but they consented to receive and train Irish ladies, who 
should hereafter form a community of their own. Ac¬ 
cordingly four young ladies entered the novitiate in 1769. 


12 


IRISH HOMES AND 


In 1771 they set out on their return to Ireland, and 
halted for the night at the Carmelite Convent of St. 
Denis, the prioress of which was then the saintly 
Louise of France. When she learnt their errand, the 
princess was filled with a holy envy, and told them 
that, had she been permitted, she would willingly have 
gone with them ; for she thought so highly of their 
labours that she would e be glad to be at the feet of 
an Ursuline in heaven.’ 

The Irish nuns stayed two days at St. Denis, storing 
up in their minds the holy counsels of the prioress. 
Sister Angela Fitzsimons was remarkable for the 
beauty of her voice, so the nuns asked her to sing to 
them ; and full and sweet, in the quiet chapel of St. 
Denis, rose that Eastertide the strains of ‘ Regina 
coeli,’ while the nuns listened in delight. 

Strange vicissitudes of human life ! Some of those 
Carmelite nuns, who then lived in such calm security 
with a princess at their head, were to see the day when 
they would be driven to death or exile, and their 
convent razed to the ground; while they who were 
going forth in faith on a perilous and uncertain exile 
were to see their work prosper and enlarge, their pro¬ 
scribed religion once more come forth in strength and 
vigour, and were to raise on Irish soil a magnificent 
building, forming a striking object to the traveller who 
enters Ireland by her great southern port, and tra¬ 
verses 

The pleasant waters of the river Lee. 

And now it might have seemed as if Miss Nagle’s 
task were almost done ; and as if with little further 
trouble her ardent desire for religious life might be 

O O 


IRISH HEARTS. 


13 

satisfied, and her work placed on a permanent footing. 
But it was not to be. As is very often the case in 
these negotiations, matters had been misunderstood. 
The Ursuline rule forbade its members to devote 
themselves exclusively to the poor; and indeed, though 
poor schools are attached to each of their convents, the 
education of the upper classes is their primary object. 
On the other hand, Miss Nagle had become assured 
by experience that the wants of the Irish poor could 
only be adequately met by an order devoted exclu¬ 
sively to their service. The long hoped-for and ex¬ 
pected arrival, therefore, was only to be a heavy dis¬ 
appointment ; and, moreover, the very friends who had 
gathered round Miss Nagle to be her helpers and com¬ 
panions were now Ursuline nuns, and unable to assist 
in her cherished undertaking. But God blessed even 
the disappointments of His faithful servant; and before 
she died she must have learned to see how much better 
it had been for her to have her first designs crossed. 

The wants of the poor were perhaps the greatest in 
Ireland; but the wants of the upper classes for the 
education of their children were also very pressing. A 
vast number of young ladies were trained to become 
good Christians by the Ursuline nuns ; and by their 
means the faith was preserved and revived in many 
and many a home, while many another pupil owed her 
vocation to the religious life to the holy lessons she 
learned in her convent-school; and up and down 
among the various convents which now overspread the 
face of Ireland are to be found numbers of pupils from 
Ursuline convents. 

There were others who had intended to enter the 


14 


IRISH HOMES AND 


Ursuline community when it should arrive in Cork, 
and who shared Miss Nagle r s disappointment. Instead 
of entering the convent they gathered round her, and 
gradually a new religious institute grew into being. 
Its history reminds us of that of the Visitation Order. 
Like the first nuns of St. Francis de Sales, the Sisters 
of the 4 Presentation’ sought out children from their 
own homes, brought them to school, and educated 
them. They visited the sick, and relieved the poor. 

It was said of Miss Naode that she did not leave a 
garret in Cork unvisited. 

Of course, like all new institutes in the Church, the 
progress of the 4 Presentation ’ was slow. It consisted 
at first of a simple congregation of pious women, bound 
by annual vows. Indeed it would seem as if Miss 
Nagle’s designs for her community did not extend 
beyond this ; and during her lifetime she did not con¬ 
template enclosure. The institute may have been said 
to have been founded on Christmas-day 1777 ; and on 
that day fifty-four poor persons were entertained by the 
foundress, and she served them with her own hands. 
This custom she kept up all her life, and it is still 
observed in the convents of the order. Her compas¬ 
sion extended to all classes of her fellow-creatures. 
She founded an almshouse for the aged poor, and took 
a warm interest in all that concerned the reformation 
of penitents. Some idea of her good works may be 
gathered from fragments of her letters, which her 
biographer* has given to the world. 4 1 am sending 
boys to the West Indies. Some charitable gentlemen 


* Memoirs of Miss Nagle. By the Rev. Dominick Murphy. 


IRISH HEARTS. 


15 


put themselves to great expense for no other motive. 
These hoys being well instructed, and the true religion 
decaying very much there, by reason of those who 
leave this country knowing nothing of their religion, 
made them lay this scheme, which I hope may have the 
desired effect. All my children are brought up to be 
fond of instructing, as I think it lies in the power of 
the poor to be of more service that way than the rich. 
These children promise me they will take great pains 
with the little blacks, to instruct them. Next year I 
will have pictures for them to give the negroes that 
learn the catechism.’ 

Sentences here and there, scattered about her letters 
on business, serve to give an insight into her character, 
and show us plainly, even if her works did not already 
bear witness to the same, how noble and generous was 
her soul. Speaking of another person : 4 She is one of 
those modern religious persons who think every incon- 
veniency such a cross that there is no bearing it.’ 

4 Whoever we live with, we must expect to have 
something to suffer, as the world is not to be our 
paradise.’ 

4 I should imagine you were laughing at me, to 
think I fatigue myself in the least. I can assure you 
I never thought there was the least trouble in acting 
in regard of the schools.’ 

Miss Nagle possessed many eminent virtues, but 
they were all fostered and sustained in her by her 
spirit of prayer. Never did she make her active, labo¬ 
rious life an excuse for lessening spiritual duties; on 
the contrary, she gave to them a larger share than is 
sometimes allotted by those who lead a far more retired 


IRISH HOMES AND 


16 

life than she did. Four hours every morning were 
consecrated to this holy exercise. She never failed to 
make an annual retreat of eight days; and it was her 
custom to spend the whole night of Maundy Thursday 
watching before the sepulchre. When at prayer, she 
was always accustomed to kneel, and would rarely 
choose any other attitude. Yet after death it was dis¬ 
covered that her knees were excoriated, and partly 
ulcerated, and must have been in that state for years ; 
so that every moment of the long hours spent on her 
knees must have been one of acute agony. Yet no 
one had ever known or guessed the secret. FTo word 
of complaint had passed her lips, nor had her sufferings 
disturbed the serenity of her aspect. It had been her 
custom, as we have already said, to traverse Cork from 
one end to the other (no slight distance), to visit the 
poor. For the last three years of her life she added 
the still more painful and laborious task of begging for 
alms from the houses of the rich. And after her death 
only it was discovered that she had large tumours on the 
soles of her feet, which would have made most people 
give up walking altogether. She did not have much 
of her reward in this world. In the very streets of 
the city for which she did so much, she was frequently 
insulted, and accused of frightful crimes. 

So her life passed away : and at last, at fifty-six 
years of age, she was called to her rest and reward. 
She endured her last illness with perfect resignation; 
received all the consolations of the Church ; and then 
called her community round her to receive her last 
advice ; it was to be the motto of their future lives. 
c Love one another as you have hitherto done,’ she 


IRISH HEARTS. 


17 


said; and soon after her spirit passed into eternity. 
She was interred within the convent enclosure, in the 
centre of the cemetery set apart for the religious. 
There she rests to this day, while the seeds she sowed 
have grown up, and blossomed, and borne fruit around 
her grave. No less than nine hundred poor children 
attend those schools, openly and 'without fear of mo¬ 
lestation, which she opened with a handful in secret 
and in terror. The convent forms a fine pile of build¬ 
ings. A new church and choir of great beauty have 
recently been added to it. The almshouse for poor 
a^ed women which Miss Naode besran still exists; 

O O o 7 

and the building in which forty-two of them reside is 
attached to the convent. 

We have said that the history of the Presentation 
order resembled that of the Visitation. Like it, in 
course of time, its first design has somewhat changed. 
It was desired that it should be raised from a congre¬ 
gation into an order; that its members should take 
perpetual vows, and keep enclosure ; also that they 
should devote themselves exclusively to one branch of 
charitable labour, i.e. the education of poor children 
within the convent walls. Thus as the wise providence 
of pod had overruled the designs of a saint on earth, 
so did He think fit to deal with the intentions and 
projects of another faithful servant after her death. 
Doubtless the rapid multiplication of religious orders 
was greatly needed in Ireland; and it was perhaps 
chiefly owing to this alteration in the original work of 
the Presentation nuns that the orders of Charity and 
Mercy sprang into being. The rules and constitutions 


18 


IRISH HOMES AND 


were remodelled, and were approved of by Pius VII. 
in 1805. 

The first Apostolic brief was granted to the Presen¬ 
tation order by Pius VI., September 3, 1791. Thus 
at the very time when the religious houses in France 
were swept from the country, and those of all Europe 
were endangered, Ireland, after her long sufferings, 
and in the midst of her poverty and privation, put 
forth the first evidence of her new life and strength. 

One of the first convents I visited in Dublin was that 
of the Presentation, for it possesses the enviable dis¬ 
tinction of being the oldest. It was built on George’s 
Hill, far away from the fashionable and well-known 
parts of Dublin, in the midst of a poor population, and 
its first stone was laid in 1788. There is nothing 
remarkable in its appearance. It is a large plain 
building, with schools attached. The first superioress 
of this convent was a Miss Mullally, who, like Miss 
Nagle, had been teaching poor children, and inducing 
others to join her; they formed themselves into a com¬ 
munity, and adopted the Presentation rule. I was 
kindly received by the nuns, who showed me over their 
large poor schools and orphanage. Many hundred 
children are taught in their schools, and since it* es¬ 
tablishment many thousands must have passed through 
them. Their orphanage is designed for the children of 
respectable parents, fallen in circumstances and unable 
to provide fittingly for their children. These girls 
receive a solid and excellent education, and there is 
no difficulty in finding them suitable situations. Many 
of them become religious chiefly in foreign con- 


IRISH HEARTS. 


19 


vents, where Irish and English subjects are much in 
request. 

The Presentation order made rapid progress in 
Ireland, where it has about fifty houses. It has also 
thirteen houses in Newfoundland, and is established in 
England, Madras, and Australia. 


20 


IRISH HOMES AND 


CHAPTER II. 

The Irish Sisters of Charity are but little known out 
of their own country, and are an entirely distinct order 
from the well-known e Soeurs de Charite ’ of foreign 
lands. When it was settled that the Presentation 
order should be exclusively devoted to the care of poor 
schools and should keep enclosure, the necessity for 
an active order able to undertake all works of charity 
that might present themselves pressed heavily on the 
mind of Dr. Murray, then Archbishop of Dublin. 
Providence soon threw in his way a person well adapted 
to be the foundation stone of the new institute. Mary 
Aitkenhead was born at Cork in 1787, and she was but 
twenty-five years of age when Dr. Murray fixed on her 
as the foundress of a new order in Ireland. In 1812 
such a task must have seemed a formidable and dreary 
one ; and the world was smiling before her, for she was 
a richly-endowed being. She possessed rare personal 
loveliness, great and varied talents, and a peculiar gift 
of winning the affection and confidence of others. But 
she responded to the call, and was ready to devote all 
she had to God. With the prudence which always 
characterised her. Miss Aitkenhead determined to pre¬ 
pare herself well for the future before her. If she were 
to rule others she would first learn to obey, and with 


IRISH HEARTS. 


21 


one companion she entered the novitiate of the Convent 
of Our Lady at 1 ork—an order which was one of the 
first established in England after the persecutions, and 
whose members devoted themselves to the education 
of both rich and poor. This novitiate lasted, at Miss 
Aitkenhead’s own request, for three years instead of 
two, as in ordinary cases ; and she and her companion 
returned to Dublin in 1815, when they made their 
profession, and the institute of the e Religious Sisters of 
Charity ’ was founded. Members soon came to join 
them, and in 1833 the order was approved by the Holy 
See. 

This order differs greatly from the French Sisters of 
Charity. The Irish Sisters adopted the rule of St. 
Ignatius ; they have a novitiate of two years and a 
half, after which they take perpetual vows, and unite 
the exercises of religious life to their active duties ; but, 
like the French sisters, they are free to undertake any 
work of charity, and the institutions under their care in 
Ireland evidence that almost every form of human 
misery has found a helping hand from them. It is not 
easy to describe adequately the admirable way in which 
these institutions are managed, and no one can visit 
the convents of this order without being struck by the 
number of superior, refined, and intelligent ladies who 
fill its ranks. 

One of their principal houses is St. Vincent’s Hos¬ 
pital, standing in the large open square known as 
Stephen’s Green. It was the first Catholic hospital in 
Dublin, and was opened in 1834. The house chosen 
had formerly belonged to the Earl of Meath, and was 
given for the purpose of being used as an hospital by a 


22 


IRISH HOMES AND 


generous benefactress. The Sisters took possession of it, 
and ten patients were at first received. The number of 
beds is now one hundred and twenty, and various addi¬ 
tions and improvements have been made in the hospital 
from time to time. From the very first St. Vincent’s was 
fortunately under the medical charge of Dr. O’Farrel, by 
whose energy and skill it has long since attained a high 
medical rank. Wherever it is practicable it would, we 
suppose, be better to build an hospital than to adapt 
any large house for the purpose ; nevertheless there is 
a home-like air about St. Vincent’s Hospital which is 
very delightful. The wards are lofty and well venti¬ 
lated, the most spotless cleanliness and perfect order 
prevail, and, watching the patients in their comfortable 
beds, with their snowy curtains, and the gentle faces of 
the Sisters bending over them and doing everything they 
could to alleviate their sufferings, we felt this was in¬ 
deed a home for the sick poor. St. Vincent’s Hospital 
receives both men and women, and when we visited it 
one poor fellow was rapidly passing to another world. 
Very tenderly were the Sisters watching beside him to 
soothe and strengthen the parting soul, and his death¬ 
bed was neither lonely nor forsaken. There is an 
exquisite little chapel in the hospital. No pains have 
been spared on its decorations, and there such of the 
patients as are able to get about may constantly be seen 
kneeling in silent prayer, and there also daily mass 
is said. 

But, passing through an hospital like St. Vincent’s, 
one sad thought strikes upon the mind: What becomes 
of those who are discharged from hospital cured or with 
their sufferings much alleviated ? What a question ! 


IRISH HEARTS. 


23 


Is not everybody glad to get out of hospital? who 
would stay an hour longer in a sick room than he can 
help ? Alas ! there are many who would gladly stay in 
an hospital like St. Vincent’s. They are so far well that 
it would not be fair to let them fill the beds and enjoy 
the care required by greater sufferers, but they are 
generally very far from being-fit to return to their 
wretched home or to their employment. 

The artisan, the mother of a family, how can they, 
with their aching heads, their trembling limbs, return 
to the crowded rooms, the hard work of their ordinarv 
life, and how f get up their strength ’ on the scanty and 
hard fare that awaits them ? And what of those who 
have no home to go to, servants who fell ill at place, 
young men without friends, and who must now at once 
seek fresh employment ? They surely need an inter¬ 
mediate refuge between hospital and work, in short, a 
c convalescent home.’ It has long been the wish of 
the Sisters of Charity to establish one. c We have 
often shed tears,’ said one of them, ‘ when we parted 
with some of our patients, knowing how unfit they 
were to return to their wretched homes, and seeing 
them come creeping slowly down stairs, and so un¬ 
willing to go.’ They accomplished their wish in the 
summer of 1866, and were able to open a sanatorium 
or convalescent home near Blackrock and Stillorgan, 
and thither I proceeded for a visit in the autumn of 
the same year. I alighted at the Blackrock station 
on the Kingstown line, and after a pleasant twenty 
minutes’ walk through country lanes, and beneath 
avenues of trees golden with the autumn tint, I found 
myself at the gate of St. Vincent’s Convalescent Home. 


24 


IRISH HOMES AND 


The house, which rejoices in the name of castle, was 
formerly a gentleman’s country residence, and is fitted 
up with every comfort. There is a pretty garden 
both before and behind the house, which when I saw 
it was gay with autumn flowers. In the little parlour 
to which I w r as showm a tall white lily of rare species 
was perfuming the room, and presently came a bright 
looking Sister of Charity to show me round the house. 
It would turn the brain of a workhouse guardian to 
see this establishment, and to find out that the Sisters 
think nothing too good for their beloved poor. The 
men’s ward was on the ground floor, the two wards 
for women above. The comfortable beds, spotlessly 
clean and neat, filled the room, without overcrowding. 
There were easy chairs, tables on which stood lamps 
ready for lighting ; books, games, dominoes to w T hile 
away the tedious hours; the whole range of the 
garden and several fields beyond were free for the 
patients to walk in. On one side of the house rises 
a tow T er of several stories. The small rooms on these 
floors are occupied by the Sisters, but at the top of the 
tower are flat leads, on which the patients can walk 
or sit. Here before their gaze lies outspread that 
lovely view which those who have seen can never forget, 
Dublin Bay, Howth, and Kingstown, and the fresh 
sea breezes blow on them, bringing health and vigour in 
their train. Is it any wonder that the patients look on 
this home as a sort of paradise, and count the hours of 
their stay as they fly ? f We shall never have such a 
time again,’ they say, and they enjoy it to the utmost, 
and go away strong and able for a fresh battle with 
the ills and cares of this weary world. 


IRISH HEARTS. 


One of the first houses founded by Miss, or rather 
Mrs., Aitkenhead (for so it is customary to call her) 
was in Stanhope Street, Dublin. It was opened in 
1819 as a home for training girls for domestic service. 
It exists in a flourishing condition to this day, and when 
I visited it, contained a hundred girls. They are 
taught to be servants, and will, when trained, be pro¬ 
vided with situations. They are instructed in house, 
kitchen, laundry, and needle work, besides the habits 
of order, cleanliness, and diligence. The greatest 
praise that can be given to this institution is to say 
that the servants sent out from it are much souo'ht 
after, and ladies who have had one will come again 
for another. The utility of the institution is great. 
There is a singular inaptness in Irish girls for domestic 
service, and they will choose many a rough and hard 
employment in preference to it. Yet when an Irish 
girl is really trained, no servant can be compared to 
her; she may not indeed ever acquire the studied 
neatness, the gift of order that is natural to her 
English sister; but her fidelity and affection, her dili¬ 
gence and carefulness more than counterbalance these 
imperfections. We in England have little experience 
of good Irish servants, the simple reason being that 
the good ones can always get employment at home, or 
else yield to the glittering prospects of enormous wages 
held out to them by the c cousins in America ’ with 
which every Irishwoman is provided. 

The Sisters of the Stanhope Street Convent teach 
the poor schools of the parish, containing 600 children. 
They also visit the sick and poor, and a number of 
prisoners. 


26 


IRISH HOMES AND 


In Upper Gardiner Street is another large convent 
and schools belonging to the Sisters of Charity. They 
are the schools, par excellence , of the order. I visited 
them repeatedly, being never weary of observing the 
admirable management and the excellent mode of in- 
struction pursued in them. They are not under 
government inspection, but are most fully up to the 
mark which could possibly be required by any f Com¬ 
mittee of Council.’ I have visited many schools of 
all kinds in England, Ireland, and foreign countries ; 
but I never saw any one which excelled, and but few 
that equalled, the perfect order, and the simple but 
thorough teaching of the Gardiner Street schools. More 
than once Protestant clergymen have visited these 
schools, and tested the children in biblical knowledge. 
They found, however, the scholars fully equal to the 
occasion, not baffled by the query, f How many chapters 
are there in each of the epistles ? ’ and the gentlemen 
went away, we hope, convinced that the Holy Scrip¬ 
tures are fully familiar to the intelligent Irish poor. 
In Gardiner Street, as in all other Irish schools, I was 
struck by the beauty of some of the children, and the 
variety of its types. Here the brunette complexion 
and full dark eyes, there the golden curls and large 
blue orbs; and here, now and then, one of those 
witching Irish faces, with eyes neither black, nor brown, 
nor blue, but each in turn, with a smile breaking like 
sunbeams over the face, and with a head and bust such 
as would send an artist wild with delight. And there 
the owner stood in her place, gentle and modest, and 
perfectly unconscious of her own loveliness. On the 
opposite side of the street on which the convent stands 


IRISH HEARTS. 


27 


the Sisters have taken a house, and call it St. Cathe¬ 
rine’s Industrial School. It is a home for young 
seamstresses, and is managed by a matron, under the 
superintendence of the Sisters. They found many stray 
cases among those whom they had to visit and help, of 
girls wanting protection, and yet ineligible for the 
existing institutions. They were too old for orphan¬ 
ages, and not suited for servants. Sometimes they 
could get work, but had no home, sometimes they were 
without both. The Sisters accordingly opened this 
house, took in as many as it would hold, devoted the 
ground floor to work rooms, and employ as many girls 
as they can find work for ; and that finding work is 
the difficult matter. It is very hard that when people 
are ready and willing to work, the employment is often 
not within their reach. St. Catherine’s Home is as 
yet in its infancy, and will, we hope, rapidly increase in 
size, and therefore in its means of usefulness. No 
charity seems to us a greater one than an industrial 
school, if some means could be found of supplying it 
with regular occupation. It is hard to see the poor 
willing to help themselves, and be unable to assist them 
in doing so, and thus see them driven into beggary, 
often into sin; and surely any effort, however small, 
made to stem the tide of this formidable evil is worthy 
of deep sympathy and co-operation. 

A little way out of Dublin, on the Stillorgan road, 
is Donnybrook Green, so celebrated for its annual fair, 
where Irish fun ran riot, when 

An Irishman in all his glory was there, 

With his sprig of shillelagh and shamrock so green ; 

and the riot had so disastrous an ending, that, happily. 


28 


IRISH HOMES AND 


after a loner struggle with custom, the fair was abo- 
lishecl. On the green now stands a new and handsome 
church, dedicated to the Sacred Heart, and at a little 
distance is a convent and Magdalene asylum of the 
Sisters of Charity. This house can receive seventy 
inmates, and its mode of management differs somewhat 
from that of the penitentiaries generally known in 
England. The wish and intention of the Sisters is that 
their inmates should remain with them for life. Of 
course no coercion is used; every one is free to go 
when she likes, and a certain number always do leave, 
but the Sisters believe that very few of those w T ho have 
lost their good name, and, generally speaking, have 
contracted habits of intemperance, idleness, and other 
vices, will be able to resist temptation if exposed to the 
rough contact of the world again. There is much to 
be said on both sides of the question. If such a plan 
be adopted, the difficulty of rescuing these poor crea¬ 
tures would be increased, for the number of refuges 
for them must be multiplied. On the other hand, no 
means to attain a j3erfect reformation should be thought 
too costly. It is certain, however, that both systems 
should be in operation ; for many characters among 
this class of unhappy women could neither brook a life¬ 
long restraint, nor even the idea of it, and would do far 
better in an asylum where they knew a certain time of 
probation only was required. At all events, the 
progress of the Donnybrook Refuge has been emi¬ 
nently satisfactory. As we passed through the rooms, 
I was much struck by the superior appearance of 
many of the women, as compared with those of other 
asylums, and when I remarked on it to the Sisters, 


IRISH HEARTS. 


29 


they told me such and such an one had been so many 
years in the asylum. There had been time for the 
fierce passions to be subdued, and the wild history of 
the past to fade out of the mind. 

Terrible are the inward conflicts these poor creatures 

have to endure at times, especially soon after their 

entrance. f I want to leave, ma’am,’ said a poor woman 

one day respectfully to the superioress. c Why so ? 

are you unhappy ? Do we not do all we can for you ? ’ 

f Yes, ma’am, and I am most grateful, but I must go. 

I will tell you the truth. I must have gin; I cannot 

live any longer without it.’ This poor creature had 

struggled on for four months. The Sisters did their 

utmost to help and encourage her, persuading her to 

stay on day after day, till at last the temptation was 

conquered, and the poor woman found she could live 

without her bane and her enemy. The penitents are 

employed in laundry and needlework, and thus do all 

they can to earn their own support. Those who have 

been a long time in the house are of great assistance 

to the Sisters in watching over and encouraging the 

new comers. Many of the former are really true 

penitents, and they take infinite pains with their 

weaker companions, showing them how they in their 

turn may overcome temptation, and regain peace and 

content. The chapel at Donnybrook is rich in carv- 

ino* and decoration: it is one of the most beautiful 
© 

and devotional of convent chapels. A portion is set 
apart for the penitents, and here they with the Sisters 
have daily mass, and all the other services of the 
church. The convent is surrounded by large grounds, 
and there is an excellent fruit and kitchen garden. 


30 


IRISH HOMES AXD 


Passing through these we were led to a spot full of 
interest to me, and very dear to the Sisters of Charity. 

It is the cemetery not only for the inmates of this 
asylum but for the whole community of Sisters of 
Charity. It is a quiet sheltered spot shut in by trees, 
and meet for recollection of those f gone before ’ and 
prayers for their repose in Christ. A simple "wooden 
cross marks the grave of each Sister ; but in the centre 
of the ground rises a beautiful cross of grey limestone, 
beneath which repose the mortal remains of Mary 
Aitkenhead, foundress of the order. From 1815 to 
1858, a space of forty-three years, she laboured un¬ 
ceasingly for the good of others ; she forgot one thing 
only—herself. A large picture in the parlour of St. 
Vincent’s Hospital, gives us now some idea of the 
grace and loveliness of her personal appearance. Even 
to her old age traces of her great beauty lingered, and 
when she was no longer able to leave her room her 
children found her still the same, the sunshine of their 
lives, their comforter in trouble, their support in per¬ 
plexity. Before her death she had founded ten houses 
of her order and gathered round her many hundreds 
of Sisters likeminded with herself. The Magdalene 
Asylum was one of her dearest w r orks; her compas¬ 
sionate heart yearned over the most unfortunate of 
God’s creatures, those who had defiled His image in 
their souls, and cut themselves off from a bright eter¬ 
nity. She laboured long and bravely to bring back 
such souls to her Lord, and singularly enough it was 
on the feast of St. Mary Magdalene, the patroness of 
the asylum, and the pattern she had so often striven to 


IRISH HEARTS. 


31 


put before the poor inmates, that she was called to her 
rest or reward. 

"Well may we hope their peaceful rest, 

Whose labours thus their life attest. 

Another pleasant little village in the neighbourhood 
of Dublin is that called Harold’s Cross. There stands 
the mother house and novitiate of the Sisters of Charity, 
and thither on St. Augustine’s Day, I bent my steps at 
an early hour in the morning to witness the profession 
of a nun. The chapel of this convent is a perfect gem ; 
but of an entirely different style from that of Donny- 
brook and much larger; it is built in the form of a 
cross and the lightness and beauty of its colouring, its 
stained windows, and its decorations, are most admir¬ 
able. The nave is lined with stalls for the Sisters, 
and at the end is a small portion reserved for seculars. 
The ceremony of profession was very simple, but also 
very impressive. The Sisters came in procession, 
carrying lighted tapers; the postulants first, then the 
novices, the professed sisters, and lastly, the novice to 
be professed with the superioress. Certain prayers 
were said, and then the Sister, kneeling at the foot of 
the altar, answered the solemn questions put to her 
whether she had well considered the step she was 
about to take ; whether she were ready of her own free 
choice to adopt for her future days a life of devotion 
to God and the poor ? To all she assented clearly and 
firmly, and in the course of the mass which followed 
she made her vows and pledged herself for ever to be 
the spouse of Christ. The ceremony concluded with 
the exchange of the white veil for the black and the 
reception of the crucifix to be worn on the breast and 


32 


IRISH HOMES AND 


the ring for the left hand. The dress of the Sisters of 
Charity is black with a white coif underneath their 
veil, and it is very simple in its whole arrangement. 
The spectators of the ceremony were hospitably enter¬ 
tained by the Sisters at breakfast, after which we were 
allowed a thorough inspection of the chapel and also to 
visit the schools, which are built half-way down the 
avenue leading to the convent from the high road. 
These schools are well attended and seemed to be in 
excellent order. The sick and poor surrounding the 
convent are also visited by the Sisters, and the novices 
are thus trained for the work of their future lives. 

Beside the Portobello Bridge of the Grand Canal 
is a large white stone building, on which is in¬ 
scribed f St. Mary’s Home for the Blind.’ This insti¬ 
tution again is under the charge of the Sisters of 
Charity, and is another proof of the admirable way in 
which they discharge the duties allotted to them. Of 
all the charitable institutions I ever visited this is, 
without exception, the happiest. A spirit of joy and 
cheerfulness pervades the whole house; the sound of 
merry laughter meets your ear continually ; peace and 
joy is written almost on every face, and yet this is the 
home of a class of deeply-afflicted beings—those who 
have never seen or who must never see again the light 
of day, the fair world around them, or the kind faces 
of those they love. The cheerfulness of the blind is 
indeed often remarked by strangers ; but a peculiar joy¬ 
fulness seemed to characterise the girls of St. Mary’s. 
When we came to know more of the management of 
the institution we ceased to wonder at their happiness. 
They are surrounded by those whose one thought it is 


IRISH HEARTS. 


33 


how to make their life a happy and a holy one. The 
most watchful care is exercised for their comfort; the 
most careful training given to their capabilities. The 
superioress of the house is one of those beings who has 
the gift of drawing the hearts of others to her and of 
influencing them for good. She has a singular aptitude 
for understanding the characteristics of the blind, and 
is untiring in her exertions to promote their welfare. 
And surely a special blessing is theirs who smooth the 
difficulties and lighten the burdens of those whom God 
has stamped with the seal of suffering, whom He has 
shut up in a cloister of His own making ; for in what¬ 
ever class of life blindness falls, it is always a heavy 
misfortune. There are indeed exceptional cases, where 
the mind is so richly gifted, where the other faculties 
of the body are so marvellously quickened, that a blind 
person becomes the centre of a home, the support of 
all around him; but these cases are rare; and, generally 
speaking, the blind member of a family is a burden and 
an anxiety, even among the wealthier classes. But 
how is this misfortune doubled when it regards the 
poor! The poor families to whom it is a struggle to 
get the children through their early childhood, and who 
look forward to each member becoming independent at 
as early an age as posible—what a burden must not a 
blind child be to them! It requires double watch¬ 
ing through its infancy ; and when school-time comes, 
brothers and sisters may go, but not the blind child. 
Shut out from the pleasures and employments of child¬ 
hood, how sad and desolate is a blind child’s life! 
Look, again, at the blind children in workhouses : what 
a miserable life is theirs! what aggravations of the 


34 


IRISH HOMES AHD 


unhappy lot of all workhouse children ! how completely 
are they at the mercy of rough officials, and when 
they grow up to man and womanhood, how manifold 
the hardships and dangers to which they are exposed ! 
Hardships mostly as regards hoys, but fearful dangers 
as regards girls. Then in the matter of faith also— 
in this respect how unprotected are the blind ! The 
outward symbols of the faith have no power to retain 
their affections; they cannot see the altar gloriously 
arrayed, the priest in the vestments—which each convey 
a lesson; they may not look upon even the veiled pre¬ 
sence of their Lord; they cannot gaze on the beautiful 
pictures, the f storied window,’ the imposing worship of 
the sanctuary; above all others they are dependent on 
teaching, upon the efforts of fellow-creatures to en¬ 
lighten their minds, and instruct them in the truth. 

It would be difficult to describe the effect produced 
on the mind by a visit to this asylum. We found two 
large rooms filled with the pupils: one the older, the 
other the younger portion of the school. Looking 
round on those faces, we were struck by the listening 
look common to the blind when the intelligence has 
been cultivated. Sometimes the faces of the blind 
display a touching beauty; and even when the blind¬ 
ness has proceeded from some cause which has dis¬ 
figured the face, it is almost always accompanied by 
that expression of mute resignation which goes straight 
to the spectator’s heart. The intelligence of these 
children was truly remarkable; they were far beyond 
seeing children of the same age. The love and desire 
of learning had been better than eyes to them. Speci¬ 
mens of beautiful needlework done by them were for 


IRISH HEARTS. 


35 

sale. To listen to their music and singing was really 
a treat. The love of and aptitude for music is pro¬ 
verbial among the blind; but in this case it had been 
brought to perfection. An excellent music-master 
had come constantly to give lessons ; and under his 
care the girls had acquired a refinement of taste in 
singing which took us fairly by surprise. The at¬ 
titude of the group who stood round the organ was 
worthy of a sketch; the rapt faces, the listening look 
more marked than ever, as if they caught some echoes 
of a music that we are too deaf to hear, were most 
striking. 

Notwithstanding all this intelligence, the blind are 
exceedingly helpless in many things ; and not all the 
training in the world will ever make them otherwise. 
They require to be under the watchful and tender care 
of religious. There are other classes of the poor who 
are, perhaps, rather unfitted for their contact with the 
rough world by the gentleness and kindness of a nun; 
not so the blind. Kindness, encouragement, sympathy, 
are to them as the air they breathe. We could not 
help noticing the extreme difference between the Dub¬ 
lin asylum and one in a provincial Irish town, which 
was under secular management. Not that there was 
anything in the managers to find fault with; they 
were kind, just, and active, but fulfilled their work 
as an irksome duty, for which they were paid. The 
Sister of Charity watches over the blind as a labour 
of love. She is never weary of devising plans for their 
comfort and improvement; she is sorry to be called 
away from them, glad to return; she counts them over 
as the jewels that are one day to sparkle in her crown. 


•36 


IRISH HOMES AND 


This helplessness prevents the blind from entirely 
earning their own support, save in rare instances, and 
this especially applies to blind girls. Blindness gene¬ 
rally arises from illness, sudden accident, or disease in 
the parents; it is ordinarily accompanied by a deli¬ 
cate constitution, so that a blind woman is incapable of 
long and persistent labour at mat and basket making, 
the branches of business generally open to them. In 
this matter the deaf and dumb are much better off 
than the blind; there are a dozen occupations to which 
they can be trained; in many large houses an intel¬ 
ligent deaf-and-dumb servant would be rather an ac¬ 
quisition than otherwise ; but who would engage a 
blind servant? The blind inmates of the Portobello 
Asylum are not, therefore, a changing community ; 
vacancies seldom occur. When we visited it one child 
was dying. She lay in the pretty little infirmary, 
gasping for breath, the death-dew on her brow; but 
she was ready to die, ready to open her eyes at last 
and gaze upon the vision of Eternal Beauty: she had 
only one earthly wish, that her little blind sister might 
be taken into the asylum and there * taught how to 
die.’ The superioress told us she had four pressing 
applications for the bed when death should have made 
it vacant. 

The union among the blind children is remarkable. 
The Sisters of Charity—accustomed as they are to 
every kind of labour among the poor—consider the 
charge of the blind the easiest and pleasantest of their 
works; there is seldom a dispute, or a reproof needed; 
the children are gentle, obedient, and loving, and most 
fervent in faith. As they pass up the broad stair- 


IRISH HEARTS. 


37 


case, you see them bow their heads. ‘ What do you 
do that for ? ’— f Because the images of our Lady 
and St. Joseph are there,’ they answer; i you told 
me sod Their prayers rise up like incense before 
God, for they are the prayers of sinless hearts : happy 
are those who, by becoming their benefactors, have a 
right to be remembered by them at the throne of 
God! * 

Though the hope of teaching blind women to support 
themselves entirely is a fallacious one, there are many 
families who would find it an immense benefit to have 
a child educated at this school, and then sent home 
when she is grown up. Instead of the helpless, use¬ 
less, unhappy being she would have been, if allowed to 
pass all her life without education, and under a system 
of 'petting , she returns home an intelligent, happy 
creature, dependent on others for many things, it is 
true, but able to render them services in return. For 
though the Sisters of Charity show their blind charges 
every possible kindness, they are never weakly indul¬ 
gent. They are careful to train their characters; to 
treat them, in short, as far as possible, as if they saw ; 
providing with quick foresight for the occasions when 
they cannot help themselves; but exacting from them 
what is within their capacity, and therefore preventing 
■them from feeling a constant sense of helplessness. 

One of the temptations peculiar to blindness is sus¬ 
piciousness ; it is also) as we know, the temptation of 
old or infirm persons who are dependent on others. 
Who can wonder ? How easy is it to deceive the 
blind ! How often advantages might be taken of their 


38 


IRISH HOMES AND 


weakness by evil, designing people! and, not to go so 
far, people who are deficient in judgment may make 
many mistakes and cause much suffering to the blind. 
It is easy, therefore, to see the immense benefit it is to 
have a blind asylum watched over by religious. As 
soon as the blind girls knew the nuns, all suspicion 
vanished, and has never returned. Instinct was as 
strong; as sig;ht, and revealed to them the character 
written on those faces which we looked upon—they 
felt the refined sense of honour, the patient self-denial, 
the heartfelt affection which we saw in the gentle Sisters 
of Charity. 

After our first visit to the asylum we were invited 
by the kind superioress to witness a play acted by the 
blind ; and truly it was worth seeing. The scene was 
laid in the time of the French Revolution; and Marie 
Antoinette, Madame Elizabeth, and other personages 
of the period, did their parts with admirable self-pos¬ 
session ; the Abbe Edgeworth, in berretta and cloak, 
gave his blessing with sacerdotal dignity. Several 
choral pieces were introduced into the play to enliven 
the scene ; while the remarks of a comic character, 
who, somehow or other, had something to say to every 
one, effectually dissipated the mournful character of 
the play. The burden of her tale was the superior 
merits of tf old Ireland ’ over any other country in the 
world; and some stanzas of her parting song, composed 
bv herself, were as follows :— 

Come to old Ireland and seek information— 

’Tis there you’ll see sights that will soon make you stare; 

Sure half what you hear of is all botheration— 

Come judge for yourself, and you’ll find I speak fair. 


IRISH HEARTS. 


39 


Come to old Ireland and see those fine places 

They have raised in this land for the use of mankind; 

Tis the first in Grod’s Heart, if the last in His creatures’, 

That beautiful spot called the ‘ Home of the Blind.’ 

Come to that place where they’re all so united, 

Though born in counties divided afar— 

They’re from Dublin and Cork, Tipperary and Kerry, 

Kilkenny and Waterford, Limerick and Clare. 

These simple pleasures are highly prized by the blind 
children; and surely it is of no little moment to give 
pleasure to those who are cut off from the many enjoy¬ 
ments which strew our paths. 

Once a year the blind girls undergo an examination, 
and assist at a concert in aid of their asylum given in 
the Rotunda, Dublin. 

The present asylum of the Sisters of Charity has 
two great disadvantages: it is too small, and has no 
outlet; there is no garden or ground of any kind ; the 
portion of the house for the Sisters is very inconvenient 
and unwholesome, but they would bear it uncomplain¬ 
ingly if they were not pained by having to refuse 
so many pressing cases. They are now only able to 
receive one hundred inmates. 

Air and space for exercise also are necessary for 
the comfort of the blind; for to take them out of 
doors is always a difficult and sometimes a dangerous 
undertaking. The Sisters therefore had long been 
wishing to move, and they had intended to build at 
Harold’s Cross, when a house and grounds at Merrion, 
the second station from Dublin on the Kingstown line, 
fell vacant and were for sale. Many difficulties stood 
in the way of the purchase, but the blind girls prayed 
heartily, and in simple faith believed their prayers were 


40 


IRISH HOMES AND 


granted, when the obstacles one by one were removed 
and the place was theirs. 

The house at Merrion is small, and buildings must 
therefore be added before all the blind girls can be 
moved from Portobello. At present they come in de¬ 
tachments for change of air, and their enjoyment of 
their new home is indeed a pleasant sight to witness. 
The grounds are very spacious; well planted with 
trees. On one side is a very pretty garden, and 
beyond it are fields belonging to the Sisters. The 
house fronts the sea, and is divided from it only by the 
high road and railway; but a passage beneath the line 
enables anyone to pass safely to the beach and enjoy 
sea bathing. A more perfect spot for the purpose 
could not have been found, and with thankful hearts 
the Sisters have taken possession of it. 

The first stone of the new buildings was laid by 
the Cardinal Archbishop of Dublin, on September 
18, 1866. When they are completed, the house at 
Portobello will be given up, and all the blind girls 
transferred to Merrion, while fresh cases will then be 
admitted. When the new arrangements are finished 
c St. Mary’s Home for the Blind ’ promises to be one 
of the finest blind asylums in the three kingdoms. 


IRISH HEARTS. 41 


CHAPTER III. 

The Irish Sisters of Charity were founded in 1815 
and before they had been twenty years in existence, a 
new order sprang into being, similar to them in many 
respects, but differing in others. The foundress of this 
new order was a Miss, or (as it is now usual to call her) 
Mrs. Katherine McAuley, an Irish lady, who finding 
herself left in middle life without pressing domestic 
duties, and the owner of a large fortune, resolved to 
devote both time and money to the service of the poor. 
She had no thought of being a nun, but intended to 
pass a retired life with a few ladies who had gathered 
round her. She purchased ground in Lower Baggott 
Street, on the south side of Dublin, and desired an 
architect to build a house for her. Some large rooms 
fit for teaching poor children, and a chapel, was the 
order she gave him; but without intending it he built a 
convent, and without intending it Katherine McAuley 
and her friends were training themselves as religious 
by their life of self-denial and devotion. When she 
saw what the designs of Providence were, she meekly 
submitted; and at fifty-two years of age went to 
serve a year’s novitiate in the Presentation convent 
in George’s Hill. There her cell can still be seen, 
the tiny room in which no doubt many secret vic¬ 
tories were won, and many fervent prayers breathed 


42 


1KISH HOMES AND 


for the anxious future before her, by the humble, 
patient novice. 

In 1831 the Institute of the Sisters of Mercy was 
founded; in 1841 it was approved by the Holy See, 
and in that same year Mrs. McAuley died, leaving 
fourteen houses of her institute in existence. The 
most remarkable features of this order have been its 
extreme popularity and its marvellous spread. New 
orders generally grow slowly at first, and have hard 
frosts and keen winds to contend against. Not so the 
Sisters of Mercy : like the Sisters of St. Vincent in 
France they caught the genius of their native country, 
and have been and are likely to remain the favourite 
among Irish orders. Before their foundress died they 
spread into England; now they possess in England 
and Scotland together forty houses ; they have gone 
to Australia, New Zealand, California, and America, 
while in Ireland their convents are like a network 
over the land; almost every town of importance pos¬ 
sesses one of their communities, and a large portion of 
the education of Irish children is in their hands. Dr. 
Forbes, in his c Memorandums in Ireland,’ speaks of 
the noble Sisters of Mercy so widely spread over 
Ireland, and so constantly to be found where good 
is to be done.’ He adds that, f As in ail Catholic 
countries so in Ireland, Sisters of Charity or Mercy 
are found, educating the young, nursing the sick, 
feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, harbouring 
the homeless, imparting religion to improve the good 
and to restore the bad, and all with that utter self- 
abnegation and self-devotion, and with that earnest¬ 
ness, tenderness, and patience which can only spring 


IRISH HEARTS. 


43 


from the profoundest conviction that in so labouring 
they are fulfilling God’s will as revealed to man.’ * 

The difference between the Irish Sisters of Charity 
and the Sisters of Mercy consists chiefly in their form of 
government. The Sisters of Charity are governed by a 
superioress-general, subject to an ecclesiastical superior, 
the bishop of the diocese in which the mother house is 
situated. They have but one general novitiate in which 
all novices must be trained, and any Sister may be sent 
to or from any house of the order as the superioress- 
general may wish. With the Sisters of Mercy each 
house is independent of the others, is governed by its 
own superioress, subject to the bishop of the diocese, 
and receives and trains its own novices. No Sister can 
be sent from one convent to another without her own 
consent and that of her bishop. When it is desired to 
make a new foundation of Sisters of Mercy, one of the 
existing convents is prayed to send out a filiation, i.e. 
to give up two or more of its Sisters to found the new 
community; and it is hoped and believed that they 
in their turn will receive novices and groAV into a 
large community ; like a swarm of bees they go forth 
from the parent house and find honey for themselves. 
Sisters of Mercy can also found branch houses which are 
dependent on and supplied from one community, and 
this is frequently done in large towns or in different 
parts of one diocese. There is much to be said in 
favour of both these forms of government, both are 
equally sanctioned by the church, and both have their 
advantages and drawbacks. But it is curious to ob- 


* Memorandums in Ireland , vol. ii. p. 27. 


44 


IRISH HOMES AM) 


serve that in France the tendency to the centralised 
form of government is strong, and by far the most 
popular; all their modern orders have, without ex¬ 
ception, adopted it; while in Ireland, the form of go¬ 
vernment of the Sisters of Mercy is undoubtedly the 
favourite and most popular, and best suits the wants of 
the country. 

The convent in Ba^ot Street is an extensive build- 

©o 

ing, but with a very plain exterior. Within, much pains 
have been spent on decorations of a strictly conventual 
character. The cloisters and convent chapel are 
beautiful; there are immense poor schools in the rear 
of the building, a large House of Mercy, and a home 
for pupil teachers. The three main objects for which 
Mrs. McAuley designed her order were the care of 
poor schools, the visitation of the poor, and the charge 
of a House of Mercy, and to these three works whenever 
practicable the Sisters are bound by rule to attend. 

The House of Mercy is meant as a temporary re¬ 
fuge for respectable girls and women out of employ¬ 
ment. It is chiefly filled by servants out of place, 
and has often proved a most valuable place of refuge 
for those in danger. The inmates are taught to labour 
for their own support, either at needle or laundry 
work, and the Sisters try to get situations for them. 
It is not intended that they should remain any length 
of time in the house, but only till they can find em¬ 
ployment. In addition to these three works of charity 
the Sisters may undertake any other, either under 
their own roof or in branch houses. The Sisters of 
Mercy in Dublin being the largest and most important 


IRISH HEARTS. 


45 


Louse of the order, have five branch houses, the three 
principal among which I visited, and will now speak of. 

The Charitable Infirmary, Jervis Street, is one of 
the oldest hospitals in Dublin. It was founded in the 
year 1728 by a small band of medical men; it began on 
a very small scale in Cook Street, but was soon moved 
to Inns Quay where it became considerably enlarged, 
and occupied the site of an old Dominican priory. 
After sixty years it was driven from its place to give 
room to the f Four Courts,’ the most beautiful public 
building that Dublin possesses. The Infirmary took 
refuge in Jervis Street, and was accommodated in a 
large house, the property of Lord Charlemont. 

In 1792 a charter for this hospital was granted by 
government, and the managers were incorporated as 
the f Guardians and Governors of the Charitable In¬ 
firmary, Jervis Street.’ Upon the present board there 
are no- medical men. The building has a plain brick 
exterior. It contains a reception room, board room, 
lecture room, and six wards, capable of containing 
seventy patients. This hospital was, until about thir¬ 
teen years ago, served by the usual class of hospital 
nurses, under charge of a matron. The medical men 
were by no means satisfied with their mode of service. 
The patients were neglected, the hospital was extremely 
dirty, and it was resolved that the Sisters of Mercy 
should be asked to undertake the nursing; and the 
request was made and granted. A certain number of 
Sisters were sent from the convent in Baggot Street, 
and a few small and inconvenient rooms, but well 
separated from the rest of the hospital, were allotted 
to them, and the Sisters began their work. In a very 


46 


IRISH HOMES AND 


short time cleanliness and order reigned throughout the 
place—the patients were made comfortable, and the 
doctors found that their orders were carried out. Stimu¬ 
lants now went down the patients’ throats instead of 
those of their nurses, and all that careful nursing could 
do to alleviate suffering was performed. Jervis Street 
Hospital is chiefly used for f accidents,’ and other sur¬ 
gical cases, and there are few under medical treatment. 
The house is not well suited for an hospital—the top 
wards being far too low and not very capable of sufficient 
ventilation. I understand it is the intention of the 
governors to build a new hospital shortly. The Sisters 
are able to do much for the souls of their patients, 
taking care to instruct the ignorant—to teach them to 
suffer patiently and to turn their thoughts to the God 
they have forgotten in their time of health. More than 
once a ivedding has taken place, in the little chapel, 
between those whom sickness had led to repent of the 
past and desire to lead a Christian life for the future. 

The second branch of the Sisters of Mercy is at the 
Mater Misericordire Hospital, the chief Catholic hos¬ 
pital of Dublin, and one which bids fair to become 
equal in importance to any in Europe. The idea of 
its creation originated with the Sisters of Mercy, who, 
not contented with being ready to devote their labour 
to its care contributed 10,000/. towards its expenses. 
They then undertook the arduous task of begging, and 
obtained from the public 17,000/. With this sum a 
portion of the hospital was built and furnished. The 
Sisters of Mercy took possession of it in 1861, and 
receive about a hundred patients. In Dr. Bristowe’s 
report to government on the hospitals of the United 
Kingdom, the following mention is made :—• 


IRISH HEARTS. 


47 


e The Mater Misericordias Hospital, founded in the 
year 1861 by the Sisters of Mercy, and as yet incom¬ 
plete, lies to the north of Dublin, on the confines of 
the town; it occupies an elevated site, and is surrounded 
by large open spaces. On the score of salubrity, the 
site seems wholly unobjectionable. 

c The hospital, when complete, will form a quadran¬ 
gular building, and will hold, we believe, about 500 
beds. At present the anterior portion only is in ex¬ 
istence. This is a handsome symmetrical three-floored 
building, presenting on each floor a corridor at the 
back, extending from end to end, with wards and other 
rooms opening out of it in front, and with staircase, 
operating rooms, and offices (forming a compact block), 

extending from its central part backwards. 

* % * * 

c The hospital is kept scrupulously clean, and its 
ventilation, and indeed all its internal arrangements, 
seem admirable. Patients are admitted without any 
recommendation other than the fitness of the case for 
admission, and all classes of disease are eligible, except 
infectious fevers. 

f This hospital promises, in our opinion, to be, when 
complete, one of the finest hospitals in Europe. It 
is built on the corridor plan; but the distribution of 
corridors, and wards, and beds, is such as entirely to 
neutralise any ill effects that could possibly flow from 
the adoption of this plan, while all the advantages that 
spacious, cheerful, well-ventilated corridors afford, are 
thoroughly secured.’ * 

* Report to Government on the Hospitals of the United Kingdom. 

By J. £}. Bristowe, M.D. 


48 


IRISH HOMES AND 


During the year 1866,1,100 patients passed through 
the wards of this hospital, and 3,491 were treated as 
out patients. In the autumn of that same year Dublin 
was visited by the terrible scourge of cholera. The hos¬ 
pital instantly opened its doors to the victims, a cer¬ 
tain number of wards were set apart for them, and 206 
patients were received and well cared for. At all 
hours of the day and night the Sisters and medical men 
were ready to take them in, and the tenderest and most 
vigilant care was bestowed on them. It fell to the task 
of one Sister to compose the limbs and shroud the 
bodies of more than one hundred victims of this ter¬ 
rible disease. In common with the other hospitals of 
which I have been writing, immense spiritual good 
is wrought within these walls. Kind and gentle words 
' make a great impression on the careless; the example 
of self-devotion they see before their eyes tends to 
strengthen it. If they are murmuring under their 
poverty and sickness, they see those born to comfort 
and luxury giving up all—imprisoning themselves 
within hospital walls—to wait on them; and advice from 
such a quarter is more appreciated. Few Catholics 
leave the hospital without having approached the sacra¬ 
ments. No distinction of creed is made in this hospital, 
and Protestants are as tenderly cared for as the rest, 
and freely allowed any ministration of their religion. 
c Whether the postulant be Catholic or Protestant, 
Mahometan or Jew, he is God’s work, made in his 
Creator’s image ; and the gate opens to him freely, 
without a question as to his religious faith. He is not 
asked to violate his conscience that he may receive 
relief. He is not required to purchase his life at the 


IRISH HEARTS. 


49 


price of his apostacy. The name of charity is not 
desecrated by association with sectarian intolerance. 
It is not made a bait to corrupt or a sword to persecute 
wretches broken down by disease to incapacity of re¬ 
sistance, and powerless to help themselves.’* 

This is a pleasing contrast to another hospital which, 
though standing in a Catholic country like Ireland, 
denies admission to any priest within its walls even to 
visit the dying, and has more than once turned out a 
patient in his last extremity because he would not die 
without the consolations of his faith. In a city where 
such fearful bigotry can exist an hospital like the Mater 
Misericordiae is doubly needed. The hospital 4 has no 
grant from the State or permanent income from any 
other source. It is dependent entirely on public bene¬ 
volence for support. During the past year a sum of 
3,818/. was voluntarily bestowed, and every shilling 
received has gone directly to the relief of the patients. 
The Sisters of Mercy are no charge whatever on the 
Mater Misericordiae Hospital, being supported out of 
the funds of their own community. Of the 3,818/. 
received last year, 1,85 ll. was realised by a bazaar. 
One thousand pounds has been lodged towards the 
creation of a fund for the completion of the unfinished 
wing of the building. Nine years ago that wing was 
erected to the height of twenty-one feet, but the work 
was necessarily stopped for want of funds.’ The hospital 
being now out of debt, efforts are being made to com¬ 
plete this wing. In it 4 a fever ward, which is much 
needed, will be supplied, and it is hoped that by 

* Speech of Right Hon. Judge O'Hagan. 

E 


50 


IRISH HOMES AND 


the addition of more than two hundred beds the hos¬ 
pital will be enabled to accommodate three hundred 
patients.’ 

Tim Mater Misericordiae and also St. A r incent’s 
Hospital have been founded upon the medieval system. 
They are the property of a religious order, which is 
alone responsible for their management, and to whom 
alms for their support are committed. In modern times 
hospitals have fallen under the management of f com¬ 
mittees ’ and * boards of directors,’ or f governors.’ The 
Sisters of Mercy, feeling the magnitude and importance 
of their undertaking, and considering the large sum of 
public money committed to their keeping, have resolved 
to amalgamate the two systems. They have, therefore, 
called to their aid a committee or f council’ of the lead¬ 
ing Catholic gentlemen of Dublin, to whom the accounts 
of the hospital are thrown open, and whose advice and 
co-operation are gratefully received. It is from their 
first annual report that the above quotations are taken, 
and the council further add: ‘ Annexed to this report 
is a statement of the receipts and expenditures for the 
past twelve months. We cannot conclude without 
expressing our admiration of the good order and clean¬ 
liness of the hospital. The admirable manner in which 
it is kept, and the clear and accurate system of accounts 
have given us the greatest satisfaction, and reflect the 
highest credit on the Sisters of Mercy.’ 

When we reflect that so large a portion of the funds 
was contributed by the Sisters of Mercy themselves, 
and that the expenses even of their own support are 
not charged upon the funds, we must confess that this 
challenge of public inspection and criticism is the very 


IRISH HEARTS. 


51 


opposite of that narrowness of spirit with which religious 
are, and often unjustly, accused. Speaking of this hos¬ 
pital, Judge O’Hagan adds: ‘The contribution of the 
Sisters of Mercy was very great indeed. And this 
they offered that they might open for themselves a new 
field of labour—made terrible by mephitic vapours and 
the groans of tortured men—and bringing them into 
fearful contact with pestilence and death. And, since 
the hospital was established, they have been its only 
nurses. They have ministered, with their own hands, 
to its suffering inmates—repelled by no form of disease, 
however loathesome, and declining no office, however 
mean, so that they might mitigate a pang or speed a 
soul more peacefully to heaven ! And all this they 
have done gratuitously, not merely receiving no stipend 
for their services, but maintaining themselves from 
their own resources, and not taxing even for their food 
the funds of the hospital in which they toil unceasingly 
to the extent of a single farthing. Surely this is ad¬ 
mirable, and not less admirable too the rule by which 
they open their doors, at all times and under ail cir¬ 
cumstances, to every human being who needs their 
help, without let or hindrance. Suffering is the sole 
condition of its own relief. It requires no passport 
from wealth or rank. It is subjected to no cold and 
jealous scrutiny. There is no fear that a human crea¬ 
ture shall perish at the door, whilst those within deli¬ 
berate on the propriety of his admission.’ 

The Cardinal Archbishop of Dublin, speaking of the 
Mater Misericordiae, said : c I recollect that when it was 
proposed to commence this hospital there was a differ¬ 
ence of opinion about the merits of the plan according 


52 


IRISH HOMES AND 


to which it is now partially erected. Some said that 
the proposed building would be too expensive, that it 
would be too grand for the poor, and that it would be 
better to erect an humble and less ornamental structure, 
which would be more in harmony with the miserable 
normal condition of our poor. Having been consulted 
on the question, I declared in favour of the present 
plan. We have palaces for guilt—we have palaces for 
force—we have palaces for legalised want, in which 
what is called pauperism is dealt with according to the 
principles of an unfeeling political economy. Why, 
then, should we not have at least one palace for the 
poor, in which poverty would be relieved in a true 
spirit of charity and according to the dictates of the 
Gospel ? Such palaces are met with under the name 
of Alberghi or Ospizi de Poveri, in Naples and Genoa, 
Pome and Paris. Why should not Dublin show its 
respect for true poverty by imitating the good example 
given by other cities ? The Sisters of Mercy, acting 
according to the spirit of their institute, determined to 
adopt the plan best calculated to elevate and ennoble 
poverty, and they have been most successful in erecting 
an hospital which does credit to their good taste, and 
is a great ornament to the city.’ 

In the conception and progress of this great work 
there presided a guiding spirit—one of those rare 
characters from whom f great ’ actions may be expected 
—and it is her principle, which was here strenuously 
carried out, that those who labour for God’s glory should 
strain every effort to let their work equal, even if it 
cannot excel, the deeds of those who toil for an 
earthly reward. 


IRISH HEARTS. 53 

The third branch house of the Sisters of Mercy in 
Dublin is connected with one of the most important 
institutions in Ireland—the Prison Befuge at Golden 
Bridge. 

It was in Ireland that the problem how to reform 
our female criminals was first solved, and it is mainly 
owing to the Sisters of Mercy that the solution was 
accomplished. The reformation of a female prisoner 
has long been acknowledged to be a harder task than 
that of a male—indeed, many have deemed it impos¬ 
sible. She has sinned more against the instincts of 
her better nature, the consequences of her crime have 
had a more hardening effect upon her, but, above all, 
the absence of hope has a fatal effect on her character. 
And this despair is really not much to be wondered at. 
If a poor woman endure her sentence patiently, and 
keep the prison rules, she goes out at the end of her 
imprisonment with very little prospect for the future, 
save that of fresh dishonesty. What is to become of 
her? She has no character. Who will employ a 
discharged prisoner? The sharp witticism of Dr. 
Whately, that he who employed a convict servant 
would soon have no spoons left in the house but him¬ 
self, is an article of faith to the vast majority of people, 
and nobody feels himself bound to risk losing his plate, 
or his other household gods. For men there are a 
dozen modes of hard, rough out-door employment to 
which they can turn; but take away from a woman 
domestic service, charing, and laundry work, and there 
is nothing left to her but wretched needlework, at 
which even respectable women can hardly earn their 
bread. It must seem almost like a mockery to speak 


54 


IRISH HOMES AND 


to a poor prisoner of the mercy of God, when the 
mercy of her fellow-creatures is so sternly withheld. 
For many years past the Sisters of Mercy have been 
permitted to visit the female prisoners at Mountjoy 
Prison, the principal and strongest prison in Ireland, 
and one which is now too familiar to us, from its 
association with the Fenian prisoners. 

Here the Sisters exercise a most beneficial influence 
over the miserable inmates. They instruct them to¬ 
gether in class, and it is a rule that no prison official 
shall be present. Yet this class often consists of wild, 
desperate women, with great physical strength and 
easily-roused passions. The matron of Mountjoy de¬ 
scribed to us once how standing in a prisoner’s cell, 
with an immense bunch of keys in her hand, she 
suddenly perceived that the woman was about to spring 
upon her, in which case the keys would have been 
sent with all their force against her head. Just in 
time the matron, a strong, vigorous woman, knocked 
her assailant down, and thus saved her own life. 
Among such as these the Sisters move fearlessly, and 
have never had to suffer. Even the wild din of 
tongues issuing from those kept all day, and many a 
day, in enforced silence, is hushed by the uplifted 
finger or the gentle tones of a Sister of Mercy. Great 
good was therefore to be expected from placing these 
women for the concluding part of their sentence in a 
refuge under the sole care of these Sisters. The pro¬ 
position was made to the superioress in April 1856 , 
and in a few days only she was ready to begin the 
work. 

Before passing to the Kefuge, I must say a word 


IRISH HEARTS. 


55 


about Mountjoy Prison, although I do not wish to 
reckon it among the e Irish homes’ that I have visited. 
It stands at the north of Dublin, in an open, airy 
situation. It is a prison for men and women, the two 
compartments being of course entirely distinct. The 
head matron of the female prison is a person of very 
superior attainments. A lady by birth and education, 
she does not content herself with merely doing her duty, 
but throws all the powers of her mind and heart into the 
w T ork. She evidently desires the real reformation of the 
prisoners, and gives her cordial co-operation to the 
efforts of the Sisters of Mercy. Her subordinates are 
carefully chosen, and are influenced by the excellent 
qualities of their superior. It is a dismal occupation to 
take a walk through Mountjoy; the long white cor¬ 
ridors and walls unrelieved by a patch of colour ; 
narrow iron staircases running here and there to upper 
stories and galleries; long rows of cells, with closely 
locked doors, and a little window in the middle through 
which the matron can peep, or the prisoner make any 
necessary want known. Pacing up and down a cor¬ 
ridor containing a number of those cells, is a matron 
dressed in black, whose countenance and manner show 
you she is firm, resolute, patient, and prepared for 
emergencies. Here she must stay an allotted number 
of hours, till her watch is over, and she is relieved by 
another officer. 

The next class of prisoners are allowed the luxury 
of having their cell door open, and thus seeing ail that 
passes, in the occasional passage of a matron, or some 
other official; yet this slight break in the dread 
monotony of solitary confinement is valued, and looked 


56 


IRISH HOMES AND 


on as a reward. We went to the school where pri¬ 
soners attend in detachments for one hour per day. 
This is one of their greatest enjoyments, and its de¬ 
privation, therefore, is used as a punishment for certain 
offences. It was curious to see women of every age, 
even to the grey-haired, standing in classes with 
spelling-books, like so many children, many of them 
able to learn but little, but eager and interested in the 
employment, which broke the monotony of their days, 
and gave them some new ideas. Women in the ad- 
vanced classes of prison life work in a common room, 
then pass to the laundry, and other employments in 
the prison. Through all these stages they must pass, 
and behave well in each before they can enter the Re¬ 
fuge ; it is intended strictly as a reward for good con¬ 
duct, and the hope of getting there, the hope for the 
future, is the star that rises on the dark night of their 
despair and recklessness, and leads them on to exertion. 
The Sisters in their visits to the prison, are able to 
learn the character of the women, and this is an 
immense help to them in the management of the 
Refuge. 

I visited the chapels of the prison, both Catholic and 
Protestant. The male prisoners are on one side, the 
female on the other. There are three chapels in 
Mountjoy, Catholic, Established Church, and Presby¬ 
terian, and each has its chaplain. The Catholics are 
so numerous as to require the services of two priests. 
We need hardly say that the Catholics in Mount- 
joy and all Irish prisons are in an overwhelming ma¬ 
jority over the Protestants ; yet for the small minority 
ample religious provision is made, while in England 


IRISH HEARTS. 


57 


for the large masses of Catholic prisoners, because they 
happen to profess a faith different from that of the 
State religion, in many prisons very little or no reli¬ 
gious provision is made. The most affecting sight in 
Mountjoy was the infant school. There are collected 
together the poor little creatures whose mothers are in 
jail. Some were sleeping in their cots, others toddling 
about the floor, others a little older learning their 
letters. They were clean and nicely cared for, and 
looked happy enough; many of them very pretty, and 
all with the innocent baby faces which appeal to every 
heart. Poor little beings, what a strange fate is theirs ! 
there for a brief space sheltered from the storm, but 
soon to go out and make experience of life in its 
roughest, bitterest aspect. How soon from many of 
them the innocence of childhood will be snatched ! 
Perhaps raging in some of the cells above, or in the 
c punishment cells,’ tearing about like wild beasts, were 
the mothers of some of them, to whom their future 
training would be committed. I know not how any 
one could look at these rosy, smiling faces, without 
shedding tears ; it is at least a merciful arrangement 
which permits their being cared for during these few 
years, and taught holy lessons which may linger as 
fragments in the memories of some. 

Nothing strikes a visitor to Golden Bridge Befuge 
more than the un-prison life look of the place. It is 
a striking contrast to the great formidable-looking 
military barrack opposite to it. A wooden gate leads 
into the domain, and on each side of the gate is a 
building, that on the right a disused Protestant church, 
on the left the schools; for the Sisters add on to their 


58 


IEISH HOMES AND 


prison work schools for the poor children in the neigh¬ 
bourhood. 

Golden Bridge is a little way out of Dublin, on the 
Inchicore Road, but it lies in the midst of a large 
and poor population. The house is by no means suited 
for the purpose, and immense pains, contrivance, and 
perseverance were needed to enable the Sisters to 
receive prisoners there at all—out-houses, lofts, and 
sheds have been converted into dormitories and work 
rooms, while money has been collected, and large, fine 
laundries built. But what cannot be done by the right 
person in the right place ? and fortunately for the 
prisoners the order of the Sisters of Mercy possessed 
among its members one whose qualities of head and 
heart rendered her pre-eminently suited for the under¬ 
taking. I cannot speak of Mother Mary Magdalene, 
or Mrs. Kirwan (as she is generally called), as I would, 
because she is still among us, and to those who have 
done, and are doing great deeds, praise sounds like an 
impertinence; it is sufficient to say that she has made 
the Refuge what it is—a success ; she has c redeemed 
multitudes of women, and redeemed them permanently 
to virtue, society, and God.’ She has touched e seared 
consciences, and softened flinty hearts.’* Hundreds of 
women who would have spent their time in Mountjoy 
Prison in a state of chronic rebellion and passion, 
engendered by despair, and gone out worse than they 
came in, more ready to sin against society and to 
break the laws of God, have struggled through their 
prison life, done well at the Refuge, and are now 


* Speech of Eight Hon. Judge O'Hagan. 


IRISH HEARTS. 


59 


earning their bread respectably, the past forgiven and 
forgotten. And though these latter are rare, there 
have been more consoling cases still where the repent¬ 
ance has been of that depth and fervour which reminds 
us forcibly of the great pattern of penitents, to whom 
much was forgiven because of her great love and 
contrition. Many of the prisoners are not fallen 
women, and one of them who had unhappily lost her 
good name, although indeed she had been more c sinned 
against than sinning,’ wept with many and bitter tears 
over her lost innocence, humbling herself in spirit infi¬ 
nitely below her companions. ‘ Ah ! Rev. mother, if 
I were but like the others !’ she would say, and thank¬ 
fully accepted the hardship of her lot as a deserved 
and salutary penance. 

A girl, whom we will call Mary, was left an orphan 
at twelve years of age with a little brother. They had 
an aunt who offered to take the girl provided she de¬ 
serted her brother. This she refused, and the two 
children wandered about the country all but starving. 
At last they stole some trifling thing and were sent to- 
prison for a short time, but long enough for the tide 
of evil to flow over them. They came out much worse 
than they went in. Mary lost her innocence, and was 
again and again committed for theft; at last she for¬ 
tunately received a sentence for seven years, and after 
spending nearly four in prison came to the Refuge. 
There she learnt to sorrow truly for the past, and her 
conduct was so satisfactory that the Sisters placed her 
in service in Dublin, in the house of one of those cha¬ 
ritable ladies who are willing to help on the good work 
by giving these poor creatures a trial. Here she re- 


60 


IRISH HOMES AND 


mained two years, and at their close received an offer 
of marriage from a respectable bricklayer well able to 
keep her; but she would not accept him till Mother 
Magdalene had seen him and approved of the match. 
This being done, all seemed going well, when one day 
Mary appeared before the Mother flushed and agitated. 
c I want you, ma’am, to tell Dennis everything about 
me ; I could not deceive him; I could not marry him 
unless he knows all, and I don’t know how he will take 
it.’ Mary went out and in came Dennis, not at all 
over-pleased to find there was any hitch in his love 
affairs. c What do you know of Mary ? ’ said the supe¬ 
rioress.— c Everything that is good, ma’am,’ answered 
Dennis warmly ; f what have you to say against her ? ’— 
f Nothing,’ replied the nun; c and what she has now bid 
me do raises her in my estimation, but she wishes you 
to know she was once a convict at Golden Bridge .’— f I 
know that, ma’am,’ said he with much feeling ; * the 

housemaid at Mrs.-found it out and told it to 

me, thinking to turn me from Mary, but I have never 
spoken to her since, I thought it was so mean; and as 
for Mary, I think more highly of her than ever.’ They 
were married, and at a year’s end Mary died in giving 
birth to her first child. Almost her last thought of 
earth was to see again the loved face of the nun who 
had indeed been a true friend and mother to her. 
Dennis came afterwards to Mother Magdalene weep¬ 
ing bitterly over his loss. ‘ Oh, ma’am,’ said he, e she 
was a wife for a prince, beautiful and so gentle; all the 
people in the house we lodged in respected her, though 
she spoke to no one but me. After our marriage she 
could not rest till she had told me the history of her 



IRISH HEARTS. 


61 


life, but I never cast a thought on it after.’ Another 
girl in her early youth had been betrayed and deserted; 
she wandered about with her baby begging; falling 
into the hands of an abandoned woman she was per¬ 
suaded to desert her baby, and take to theft and evil 
courses. She allowed the tempter to take the baby 
from her arms, and then she followed her bad counsel; 
but a perpetual remorse haunted her, and she strove to 
drown it in reckless sin. She came to the Refuge; 
repentance began to do its work, and her sorrow was 
deep and overwhelming. She behaved very well, and 
on leaving was respectably placed in America. Friends, 
home, honest earnings, a good name were again 
hers ; but still she heard that feeble wail, still she felt 
the last pressure of that little burden on her bosom, 
and though she went thankfully, patiently about her 
work, she said there would be a shadow over her to the 
end of her days. 

Strange and romantic indeed are many and many of 
the histories which have come to the ears of the Sisters 
in this Refuge; these lives have often been tragedies 
acted in secret, and would outdo the plot of any sen¬ 
sational novel. One who knows the Refuge well thus 
wrote of its inmates and others like them:— 

Did each her dark wrongs unfold, 

Well might cur blood run cold— 

Loyo believed, 

Love deceived, 

Anguish and wrath ; 

Sad mothers bemoaning them, 

Brothers disowning them; 

Cast away, 

East they stray 
Down by sin’s path. 


62 


IRISH HOMES AND 


Not harshly abusing them, 

No, nor ill-using them, 

Saddening some, 

Maddening some, 

Makes them amend. 

Instruct them to pray instead, 

Earning pure daily bread ; 

Bear with them, 

Share with them— 

He will befriend. 

Poor outcasts! for peace they sigh, 

Sure’t were release to die. 

Who shall say, 

Such as they 
Mercy ne’er found ? 

’T were hard all their woes to tell, 

Christ alone knows it well; 

Judge no more, 

Once before 

He wrote on the ground. 

Placing out the prisoners when they leave is the 
chief care of the nuns; it is the completion of their work, 
without which all the previous labour would be wasted ; 
and it is not easy. A prisoner who has done well 
during her prison term has earned money which makes 
her a prize for the moment to her 4 pals ’ and former 
evil companions. A girl who had been convicted of 
sheep stealing and committed to prison in Cork, there 
made acquaintance with two bad women, and on her 
being sent to Mountjoy, made a bargain with her 
friends to call for her as soon as her sentence should 
have expired. When sent to the Refuge she was found 
to be deceitful and cunning, and little hope was enter¬ 
tained of her reformation. But a change passed over 
her, and she came to Mother Magdalene to tell her 
story, and asked to be saved from her prison acquaint- 


IRISH HEARTS. 


63 


ances. She was sent to America, where she was found 
to have respectable friends; and when at the appointed 
time the two women came faithfully to fulfil their 
pledge (for when did Satan ever forget his appoint¬ 
ments ?) it was with no little jubilation of heart that 
the Sisters told them she whom they sought was gone 
away. The enquirers seemed greatly astonished at the 
news. In America this girl did well, and wrote grateful 
letters. Against dangers such as she was exposed to 
the nuns have to guard many, and they have to provide 
employment for their charges suited to their characters 
and capabilities. Many emigrate, and as the Sisters 
of Mercy have convents in most of the colonies, they 
are sent to these by the Sisters from the Refuge, and 
thus find friends and helpers in a strange land. 

Mother Magdalene’s influence over the prisoners is 
unbounded: a result not so much to be wondered at, 
because she is one of those beings on whom the gift of 
influence has been bestowed; and the intellectual and 
the refined cannot resist its spell. And all the powers 
of a mind fitted to shine pre-eminently in the most 
accomplished circles are exerted to win the confidence 
and direct aright the character of these poor outcasts. 
One of them was sent to service at a great distance 
from Dublin; she behaved very well and remained a 
quarter; at its end her wages were paid, and she was 
allowed a day’s holiday. She took a return ticket for 
Dublin, and presented herself at the convent. She 
had exactly one hour to spare before she had to return 
to the station, and the price of the ticket had swal¬ 
lowed up nearly all her earnings; but she was quite 
contented, having accomplished the object of her 


64 


IRISH HOMES AND 


journey, which was, she said to Mother Magdalene, 
c to have a good look at you, ma’am; ’ and when re¬ 
monstrated with by the Mother for spending her money 
on so transient a pleasure when she might have done 
other things with it, bought a useful book for instance, 
replied, ‘ And sure ma’am, I mean to do it again.’ 
After all was it so very transient ? If there are f ser¬ 
mons in stones’ what lessons may not be read from 
the faces of those we reverence—lessons which may 
linger in the memory and aid us in the hour of trial. 

For a long time the two employments of the pri¬ 
soners were washing and needlework, but Mrs. Kirwan 
constantly regretted that she was not able to vary 
these. Some women are not suited or strong enough 
for laundry work ; and then the long monotony of 
6 stitch, stitch, stitch ’ is very trying and very hard for 
them, and tends to keep up that dwelling on self, and 
reverting to the past, which it is the aim of the 
Sisters to prevent. In the course of 1866, Mrs. Kirwan 
ventured on a little experiment, and is attempting the 
weaving of lindsey. No manufactories of this fabric 
exist in Ireland, all lindsey, as well as most other 
articles of wear, is imported; and the people who 
blame the Irish for not exerting themselves, would be 
the last to purchase home made goods. Mrs. Kirwan’s 
experiment is a very courageous one, for it cannot be 
made without much expense. A manufactory had to 
be fitted up, looms purchased, and weavers engaged for 
a certain time to teach the art. When I visited the 
Refuge several looms were in operation, worked by 
the prisoners, and various bales of lindsey manu¬ 
factured by them were ready for inspection; it seemed 


IRISH HEARTS. 


65 


very well made, and as good as what would be seen in 
a London shop. If this experiment should succeed, 
it will not have to trust entirely to the mercy of the 
public, for the Dublin Sisters of Mercy, with their five 
branch houses, and the various institutions under their 
charge, are consumers of a great deal of lindsey, which 
might be supplied from their own looms. At all events 
the employment has had an excellent effect on the 
women; the work interests them and they labour away 
with good will. Passing through the laundries we 
saw two pretty little children whose mothers were 
among the prisoners. When a prisoner with a child 
is sent to the Refuge, the child comes also, and the 
mother can see it at the intervals of her work, and this 
must have a humanising and softening effect on the 
poor creatures. It must be remembered that the 
whole cost of this Refuge is by no means defrayed 
by the Government; it allows only five shillings per 
week for each convict. Out of this and the small 
profit arising from the prisoners’ labour, every expense 
has to be met. The erection of the laundries cost a 
large sum : the Sisters borrowed it at the usual rate 
of interest, and have to pay off the principal. All 
this anxiety, responsibility, and burden falls on them, 
in addition to the heavy cares of the Refuge itself. 
There is an erroneous idea in Ireland that institu¬ 
tions under Government do not need further help—on 
the contrary they often need it more than others, for 
it would be a grievous thing if the help that Govern¬ 
ment offers had to be refused for lack of the necessary 
funds to meet it. After the Golden Bridge Refuge was 
in operation, a Protestant one was opened which contains 

F 


G6 


IRISH HOMES AXD 


about a dozen prisoners. The Government extend 
the same help to it as to the Catholic, and in this 
respect there is no cause for complaint; and as far 
as the Refuges are concerned, all creeds are treated by 
Government with perfect justice and fairness. Before 
leaving the Refuge I visited the schools, divided from 
it by a long strip of grass land. Several hundred 
children attend this school, and as the population 
around is extremely poor, an industrial school is 
added to the literary ones. The Protestant church 
on the other side is an absurd object, being utterly 
empty and disused; there would be no difficulty in the 
Sisters purchasing it, except that by law a building 
belonging to the Established Church must remain 
as it is, whether there be a congregation or not, and 
when it is not of the slightest use to any mortal. 


IRISH HEARTS. 


67 


CHAPTER IV. 

On the opposite side of Dublin to Portobello, near 
tlie beautiful cemetery of Glasnevin, is the Blind 
Asylum for boys and men. The door was opened to 
us by a Brother in the Carmelite dress, but both dress 
and Brother were so dirty we thought he had come to 
the door by mistake. He showed us into a small 
parlour, where we found a poor little blind boy, whom 
his father had brought, waiting in hopes of admission. 

Presently in came the superior, but alas! there was 
little improvement in his appearance from that of the 
porter. He was, however, most pleasant and good 
natured in his manner, and quite willing we should see 
the institution. We went first into the shop where the 
articles made by the blind are arranged, Few are sold 
on the premises, for the asylum is quite out of Dublin, 
and I should imagine has few visitors. They are bought, 
however, by shops, and thus employment is afforded to 
the boys. There was a great array of brushes, mats, 
and baskets of all kinds, and they looked very well 
made. Two workmen are employed in the institution 
to teach the blind and superintend their work. We 
were then shown into a large, desolate-looking sort of 
barn, absolutely bare of furniture, except that at the ex¬ 
treme end was a piano. A gentleman was seated at it, 
and a few of the blind boys were standing round him 


68 


IRISH HOMES AND 


taking a music lesson. TV e went to the basket depart¬ 
ment where we found other blind boys making coarse 
baskets and hampers, and this our guide told us was 
all that was to be seen. 

The whole place was very dirty and disorderly, the 
blind inmates were dirty and untidy, and had an un¬ 
cared-for look, as if in the hands of those who did not 
understand their management. VV r e noticed with pain 
the contrast between the blind boys and girls ; the 
latter so thoroughly trained to exert their faculties and 
do all they can to help themselves. They walk about 
with an air of freedom and confidence, feeling sure 
they will be guarded from all danger. The blind boys, 
even those who had been ten years in the house, 
stumbled here and there, literally groping their way, 
and showing very plainly that their capabilities had 
never been drawn out, or their education as blind 
persons attended to. And of course it is not every¬ 
one or every religious order that is suited to this 
important work. The teachers must themselves 
not only learn but possess qualities suited to the task. 
No doubt the Carmelite brothers have the kindest and 
best intentions towards their afflicted charges, and we 
heard from good authority that the moral training of 
the institution is excellent, but they do not give a 
visitor the impression of being suited for the difficult 
and arduous task entrusted to them. TV r e came away 
wondering that in the diocese of Dublin such an 
asylum was suffered to exist without reform. 

Not very far from Glasnevin, on the Cabra Road, is 
an institution which forms a striking contrast to the 
one we have just mentioned. It is the Home for Deaf 


IRISH HEARTS. 


69 


and Dumb Boys under the charge of the Christian 
Brothers. The building is a large and handsome one, 
standing on rising ground, with a large open space sur¬ 
rounding it. Fortunately we arrived there just before 
school broke up, and found the large schoolrooms filled 
with silent and attentive scholars. The Brother ac¬ 
companying us questioned the different classes as we 
passed along. The question was written on the black 
board with chalk, and the boys answered on their slates 
with remarkable celerity. It was curious to see how 
they watched their teacher’s face, and how one word or 
a sign was sufficient for them ; the rest was read from 
the countenance of the Brother. From the school¬ 
rooms we passed into the workshops, where different 
trades are taught the boys, each superintended by a 
skilled workman. We visited the tailor’s department, 
and then the shoemaker’s, and in these a certain num¬ 
ber of boys learn to make their own clothes and shoes. 
From thence we passed to the bakery, where some of 
the boys help to make the bread of the establishment; 
and, lastly, we visited the printing office, where the 
foreman showed us specimens of very fair printing 
indeed done by the deaf-mutes. There is always 
plenty of employment for them in this line, as the 
Christian Brothers, who are a numerous body in Ire¬ 
land, publish their own school books and have many of 
them printed here. By the time we had seen the shops 
the boys had finished school, and rushed out into the 
playground where they ran about and occasionally 
made an uncouth noise. They never, however, said 
the Brother, play with the joyousness of other boys. 
They are cheerful and happy, but have a gravity 


70 


IRISH HOMES AND 


beyond their years. The Brother showed us the large 
garden, well-planted with flowers and vegetables. Here 
a few at a time can always be trusted; they seem to 
have no turn for running over the beds or doing any 
mischief. Few have any taste for gardening, but they 
have a great belief in the efficacy of fresh air, and 
when they complain of some slight illness like to be 
allowed a walk in the garden. There they will be seen 
pacing up and down the gravel paths like grave old 
men, and after a little while they return to school 
f quite well.’ The trades which the boys are taught 
are made quite a secondary object as compared with 
the school work. They were, in fact, added on after 
the asylum had been for some time in the hands of the 
Brothers. For these religious were not content with 
looking after and teaching the boys, they studied them, 
and they found it would be an excellent thing to create 
some employment which should fill up spare hours and 
interest them, besides giving them assistance towards 
earning their bread when they leave. Playtime is not 
to them the entire relaxation it is to other boys, and 
the most common temptation to deaf-mutes would be 
to plot and conspire among themselves if left too much 
to their unoccupied thoughts. For the freemasonry of 
a deaf-mute is unlimited. The most vigilant teacher, 
well trained in the language of the deaf and dumb, can 
never be a match for boys who can carry on their con¬ 
versations in silence and with the utmost celerity. 
The trades were introduced, and a most excellent 
effect has resulted from them. The boys are occupied, 
interested, happy, and contented, and try to prepare 
themselves for earning their own bread. 4 But school 


IRISH HEARTS. 


71 


work is by far the most important for them,’ insisted 
and repeated the Brother ; ‘ to be able to communicate 
with their fellow-creatures is the main point for them.’ 
Beading, writing, arithmetic, history, geography, and 
in some cases a little drawing, are generally the whole 
of their attainments; and a course of ten years is 
usually required before this can be fully acquired. It 
is difficult for those not acquainted with deaf-mutes to 
understand the immense labour required to teach boys 
to whom sound has no meaning. 

After passing through the dormitories, which are 
large, lofty and airy, we entered a small room called 
the study, where the elder and more advanced boys 
come to read in the evenings. I was surprised on 
taking up the books to see in what simple language 
they were written; and then we discovered that when 
the deaf-mute has learnt to read, the world of litera¬ 
ture is by no means open to him. A new word to him 
conveys no meaning. He can read e banner,’ for in¬ 
stance, as well as we can; but till some one shows him 
by signs what it is he is none the wiser, and therefore 
his progress through the world of words is necessarily 
slow. I asked if the boys were inclined to be reli¬ 
gious, and was answered in the affirmative. They soon 
acquire a settled conviction that there is not much 
chance of happiness for them in this world ; that most 
of its enjoyments are shut out from them, and that 
they had better try and secure the promises of the 
world to come. They are always eager to approach 
the sacraments ; have a very lively faith in the unseen 
world, and often talk of heaven as the place where 
they shall for the first time f speak and sing.’ Their 


72 


IRISH HOMES AND 


fault is generally violent temper, which vents itself 
oftener in spite ancl revenge, not being able to express 
itself in outspoken fury. The care of deaf-mutes is a 
far more arduous and depressing one than that of the 
blind; and we felt a deep admiration when we saw 
these excellent Brothers, many of them young, clever 
and superior men, devoting themselves to this laborious 
undertaking for the sole motive of the love of God. 

The blind are after all beings like ourselves, help¬ 
less by a certain deprivation, and cut off from many 
of the pleasures of life, but with their other senses 
sharpened to an extraordinary degree, often proficients 
in certain arts, and able to enter into and understand 
all that passes around them—affectionate relations, true 
and faithful friends. The deaf-mutes are a race apart, 
a people within a people, cut off from their fellow- 
creatures by a mysterious and impassable barrier. It 
is extraordinary to recollect how many centuries were 
suffered to pass away before any attempt was made to 
alleviate the condition of a deaf-mute. They were 
‘ separated from both God and man by a law more 
immutable than that which divided the leper from his 
nation.’ Far too little known is the noble man who 
though he c worked no miracle, yet taught the deaf to 
hear and the dumb to speak.’ M. Sicard, inventor of 
the language for the deaf and dumb, was born in 1742 
and died in 1822. M. Carton, from whom we quote the 
above words, remarks on the 4 infinite toil and trouble’ 
with which the deaf-mute must be taught. He says, c it 
is the labour of a life, one-half at least of which must 
be spent in learning how to give what the other half is 
devoted to imparting.’ The grave necessity for a deaf 


IRISH HEARTS. 


73 

ancl dumb asylum may easily be perceived when we 
learn that the census of 1863 gives 5,653 as the 
number of deaf-mutes in Ireland. The Cabra Asylum 
receives two classes of inmates : first, the children of 
the poor; and, secondly, the children of those who can 
afford to pay a small pension for their support. Little 
difference is, however, made between the two classes; 
the second have a separate dormitory, a few extra com¬ 
forts, and do not work at the trades; in all other 
respects they are on the same footing as their poor 
companions. Their common misfortune has levelled 
almost every distinction of rank. For the support of 
the poor boys, the Brothers are quite dependent on 
alms ; and as this is the only Catholic institution in the 
three kingdoms, it ought to be better supported than 
it is, and either enlarged or similar ones set on foot at 
other places. 

There was perfect cleanliness and order in all parts 
of the establishment, and a large allowance of fresh 
air. We took leave of the kind and courteous Brother 
and left the f Home for Deaf-mutes,’ heartily wish¬ 
ing that the blind boys could enjoy the privilege of 
beino- under the care of the excellent and intel- 

O 

ligent Christian Brothers. Their superior capability 
for the work over a single house of Carmelite Friars is 
obvious. Many hundreds of them are banded together 
under one superior-general, who can, of course, choose 
the subjects most suited for each particular work ; 
added to this, every Brother is specially trained for the 
work of educating the poor, and taught to study their 
characters and to raise their tone. If their attention 
were once drawn to the care of the blind, no doubt 


74 


IRISH HOMES AND 


we should soon have an asylum for boys equally good 
as that for girls. 

Upon the Glasnevin Road stands another large and 
handsome building under the charge of these same 
Brothers. It is an orphanage for boys, principally 
supported by the Association of the Brothers of St. 
Vincent de Paul. It seemed to us to be in excellent 
order and well managed, and, no doubt, is of great use 
in providing a refuge for homeless and orphan boys. 

About half a mile farther out of Dublin than the 
Home for the Deaf and Dumb Boys, we find a similar 
institution for girls, under the care of the Sisters of 
St. Dominic; they have also a school for young ladies. 
The building is not nearly so good a one as that for the 
boys, but at the same time it is well adapted for its 
purpose. The course of instruction for the deaf-mute 
girls is the same as for the boys. Needlework, of 
course, is added in this school. After having been a 
few moments in a deaf-mute school, the silence becomes 
oppressive. What a hum and murmur and stir of life 
would be heard among the children of any other school! 
but here these young creatures stand silently in their 
places, while their speaking eyes follow us about with 
an eager questioning glance, as if we could bring them 
news from the world from which they are for ever shut 
out. The communication of the deaf-mutes with each 
other and them teachers is a mixture of talking on the 
fingers and making signs. Their prayers are entirely 
in the latter. We asked the Sister in charge to let the 
children say a prayer before us, and accordingly they 
said, or rather acted , the Paternoster and Ave Maria. 
We were much struck by the extreme reverence of 


IRISH HEARTS. 


75 


their manner and the depth of meaning in their ges¬ 
tures. 6 The Lord is with thee,’ every head was bowed 
low upon the breast, a mute confession that the Highest 
had come down to the lowly, the Creator to the crea¬ 
ture. The information the Sister (a fair, bright-look¬ 
ing girl of nineteen) gave us about the children tallied 
with that of the Christian Brothers ; the same faults, 
difficulties, and virtues characterise each sex. The 
Sister told us that when she first was put in charge 
over the children she could not imagine why the priest 
who came to hear the children’s confessions always sent 
for and consumed a quantity of lucifer matches. At 
last she asked the children why he wanted them. 

4 Why, Sister, he wants to burn our sins,' was the instant 
reply; and then she found that all the children who 
could write preferred making their confessions in writ¬ 
ing instead of using their peculiar language. A young 
deaf-and-dumb postulant was teaching in the school. 
The Sisters trust sire will persevere, and that others 
among the deaf-mutes may have a similar vocation. 

In my walks in the Glasnevin direction I often turned 
into the cemetery and wandered about its numerous 
alleys. A more beautiful cemetery I do not think 
could be found, thickly planted with trees and shrubs, 
the paths and graves most beautifully kept; many of 
the monuments are graceful and in good taste, and 
there are few of the hideous erections which disfigure 
the London cemeteries. Within the cemetery rises a 
‘round tower,’ but not ‘of other days,’ for it is a modern 
erection and a memorial to Daniel O’Connell. Near it 
is the grave of e the Liberator,’ a vault with an iron 
gate, to which you descend by steps, and through which 


76 


IRISH HOMES AKD 


the coffin is plainly to be seen. Offerings of flowers, 
cternellesy and laurel wreaths, freshly gathered, were 
lying around. And no wonder. Surely there are 
faithful souls enough to keep tokens ever fresh and 
green before the grave of him whose great heart beat 
only for Ireland, without thought of self; who has lain 
down to rest worn out by the long conflict for his loved 
country, but victorious, even in his death, and leaving 
behind him an immortal name. 


IRISH HEARTS. 


4 i 


CHAPTER Y. 

Of late years many of the foreign orders have found 
their way to Ireland. The Irish orders had borne the 
brunt of the battle, had pioneered the way, and now 
willingly welcomed fellow-labourers into the immense 
and increasing harvest-field which lay before them. 

The Sisters of St. Vincent of Paul, or Soeurs de 
Charite, were accordingly invited to Dublin about a 
dozen years ago, and they immediately responded to 
the call. Their costume excited much attention, for 
the Irish Sisters of Charity and Sisters of Mercy had 
always worn black bonnets and cloaks when in the 
streets, and the white f cornettes’ of the French Sisters 
was a novel sight. So strong an impression did it 
make on the Irish mind, that in Dublin the Sisters of 
St. Vincent are generally spoken of as the ‘ white 
bonnets.’ The Sisters took possession of a large but 
ancient house in North William Street, standing in 
a somewhat forlorn situation on the banks of a canal. 
It had already been the home for many years of two 
communities of enclosed nuns, both of whom had mi¬ 
grated to more suitable quarters, and the convent 
chapel had become the parish church. This, however, 
was no obstacle to the establishment of the Sisters of 
Charity, for, according to their holy rule, c their chapel" 
was to be c the parish church.’ The grated choir of 


78 


IRISH HOMES AND 


the religious still remains, and is used by the Sisters, 
who to the eyes of those who know them in other 
countries look strangely out of place, for ‘ their grating,’ 
said their holy founder, tf was to be no other than the 
fear of God.’ Joining on to the old and dingy-looking 
convent of the Sisters, now stands a large handsome 
building in red brick, which forms the Orphanage of 
the Sisters, and contains over a hundred orphan girls 
of various ages. This building was raised and fur- 

o o 

nished by funds principally provided by the commercial 
voung men of Dublin. The order of the Sisters of 
St. Vincent seems to be a favourite one with them, 
and they determined that a suitable orphanage should 
be added on to the convent. With great zeal and 
energy they organised a large bazaar and raffle, took 
the whole management into their hands, and realised 
so large a sum of money, that the Sisters were able to 
buy the ground, and then build the Orphanage. It is 
well built, and the arrangements are excellent. Two 
large schoolrooms are divided off by folding doors, 
which when occasion requires can be taken down, the 
rooms thrown together thus forming one really magni¬ 
ficent room. We visited the large dormitories, the 
lavatory, and linen room, and, finally, the industrial 
school department, where the orphans are taught 
needlework and artificial flower making. They also 
do the work of the house, under the direction of the 
Sisters, and are thus trained for servants. 

Besides the Orphanage, the Sisters teach the parish 
day schools, and visit a large number of sick and poor. 
Happening to go there one Sunday, I found the 
Sisters busy at work in a Sunday school, which was 


IRISH HEARTS. 


79 


well filled, especially by a class of girls who were not 
able to receive instruction in the week. 

At no great distance from North William Street, 
the high road leads us to the quiet suburb of Rich¬ 
mond, consisting of green fields and lanes, with de¬ 
tached houses and cottages next them. Before the 
high green wooden gates of one of the houses we 
paused, and the door being unlocked by a porter, we 
made our way up the short avenue to a small neat 
villa, with a garden on one side, and large grounds at 
the rear. At the extreme end of these grounds, on 
rising ground, stood a large, newly-built house, with 
windows from which it would not have been easy for 
anyone to make their exit, and this, we were told, 
was the asylum, containing sixty lunatics, under the 
charge of the Sisters of St. Vincent de Paul. I ex¬ 
pressed my surprise at finding the Sisters of this order 
in charge of such a work, having always been accus¬ 
tomed to see the white cornette surrounded by little 
children, or bending over the sick bed of the poor. 

The superioress replied that the Sisters were not 
often called upon to take charge of the insane, and 
that .at the present moment she believed there was 
only one other establishment of the kind among their 
many thousand houses; but that there was nothing 
foreign to their spirit in their doing so; for their holy 
founder had an especial compassion for the insane, 
and would have rejoiced to see his daughters called to 
their service. And what a service it is ! 

What a scene presented itself to my gaze when, 
accompanied by the Sisters, I went through the house ! 
What a motley crowd all gathered together under the 


80 


IRISH HOMES AXD 


ban of that common misfortune which had shut them 
out from the happy homes and busy world in which 
they had once had their share ! Those who are tract¬ 
able are allowed to be-in the Sisters’ house and the 
grounds, the reception parlours only being shut off from 
them. 

An elegant-looking girl, with magnificent coils of 
hair wreathed round her head, was playing and singing 
at a piano; a nun in her habit was walking about 
the grounds; a young lady of three-and-twenty was 
amusing herself with a doll; another was seated under 
a tree surrounded by dozens and dozens of pieces of 
paper of every variety, shape, and hue— f her corre¬ 
spondence ; ’ and various other poor creatures were 
scattered here and there, while one or two Sisters were 
employing themselves in their neighbourhood, keeping 
a quiet but vigilant guard. 

We walked through the grounds to the asylum, and 
after seeing the various parts of it, the Sisters un¬ 
locked a door, and we found ourselves within the 
portion set apart for those who cannot be at all trusted 
alone. We had so sooner entered than a woman flev r 
at me, and seizing my wrists with an iron grasp, im¬ 
plored me to rescue her. She had written to the Lord 
Chancellor and Dr. Cullen, but her letters were in¬ 
tercepted. The Sisters were not unkind, but they 
would have it she was mad, and kept her here among 
all these insane people, and it was all a conspiracy 
against her. At last the Sisters prevailed on her to 
release me, but she followed us about wherever we 
went in that portion of the building, repeating in a 
vehement manner her piteous story. There were 


IRISH HEARTS. 


81 


terrible cases in these rooms: wild, haggard-looking 
creatures, with their grey hair streaming on their 
shoulders, talking incoherently to themselves; one 
keeping up a perpetual moaning and weeping, and 
others talking incessantly and in the wildest way; and 
with these some of the Sisters have to pass the livelong 
day. We saw the bedrooms for cases like these so 
arranged that they cannot hurt themselves, and can 
tear nothing else but the bed clothes in pieces. These 
latter are very frequently found in shreds in the 
morning;. 

Close beside the Lunatic Asylum, divided only by 
a high wall, stood a convent of the Presentation order, 
built some forty years ago, and inhabited by a com¬ 
munity of nuns who taught their poor schools, and 
prayed in peace. It was a terrible blow to them when 
the Lunatic Asylum was built. Solitude and silence 
fled from their pretty chapel, their quiet cells, the’r 
pleasant grounds. They could not even be at peace 
when they wandered to the little cemetery at the ex¬ 
tremity of their enclosure, where some of their dearly 
loved companions reposed, and where they had marked 
out their own graves. 

The Presentation nuns are, as we have before re¬ 
marked, an enclosed order ; each house is independent 
of another, and the nuns at Richmond soon found that 
novices would not venture within their waks foi tear 
of their strange neighbours. Meanwhile, the lunatics 
had increased in number, and applications tor admission 
had constantly to be refused. The committee who 
manage the asylum had to contemplate further build¬ 
ing, and so after some years of this trying life for the 

G 


82 


IRISH HOMES AND 


Presentation nuns, and many negotiations, an arrange¬ 
ment was effected. The committee purchased the 
-convent and grounds, and the community removed to 
one of the other suburbs of Dublin. It was a great 
sacrifice; many of the nuns had grown old in these 
walls; every spot had its association in their eyes ; here 
they had peacefully lived, and here they had hoped to 
die. Their chapel was particularly dear to them. It 
had been built by a benefactress, and was certainly an 
elegant and devotional one. However, they had the 
consolation of knowing that their departure would help 
on a good work, and that at the place to which they 
were going poor schools were very much wanted, while 
the children who had attended their schools at Rich¬ 
mond would be able to find instruction in neighbouring 
ones. The day succeeding their departure, and on which 
the Sisters of Charity took possession of their new do¬ 
main, was September the twenty-seventh, the anniver¬ 
sary of the death of St. Vincent de Paul. Benediction 
was given in the little chapel, at which many of the 
patients chose to be present. It was a strange and pain¬ 
ful sight to see the places just vacated by the nuns 
filled by these wild-looking creatures, attired in every 
variety of costume. After Benediction, we walked 
through the new grounds, and visited the nuns’ ceme¬ 
tery, a pretty, peaceful spot. The names and ages of 
the departed are inscribed on a stone tablet let into 
the wall surrounding the cemetery, while a little cross 
stands over each grave. We observed that many of the 
Sisters had attained great ages; none had died young, 
and one had reached the good old age of ninety years. 
We asked the Sister of Charity with us if she now 


IRISH HEARTS. 


83 


would choose her grave among the vacant spaces. ‘ It 
would be of little use to do that,’ she answered, smiling; 
6 we must never cling to any spot on earth; orders 
might come from my superiors any day, and I should 
pack up my little blue bag, and be off.’ 

While standing in the cemetery and walking in the 
grounds we could fully appreciate the late sufferings 
of the nuns. Distinctly borne upon the air that still 
autumn day came the wild shouts and shrieks of the 
unfortunate inmates of the asylum. Near the convent 
their words could be heard distinctly, and too often 
these are of a nature at which the hearers shudder. We 
went over the empty, deserted convent and saw how it 
was to be adapted to its new purpose. We found that 
some of the nuns’ cells had actually looked into a piece 
of ground at the back of the asylum, where the poor 
patients too much afflicted to mix with their more peace¬ 
able companions were allowed to take the air. At that 
moment two were in it leaping, dancing, and howling 
exactly like wild beasts. It was a sickening sight. 
( One of those,’ said the Sister with us, c is a young lady 
of good family and fortune, handsome and accomplished. 
She is an excellent musician, and in her lucid inter¬ 
vals spends much time in music ; but, when her pa¬ 
roxysms come on, she is in this state. But,’ added 
the Sister cheerfully, ‘she will be cured, no doubt.’ 
She then went on to tell us that, as a rule, those 
violently afflieted are often cured. The quiet delusions 
are the most obstinate, and generally incurable. When 
the new buildings are ready the Sisters will receive 
three classes of inmates, at different rates of payment. 
They have a number of strong country girls as servants 


84 


IRISH HOMES AND 


to help them in the house work. They have no other 
assistance, and in all the years they have managed the 
asylum, have never required it. No men have ever 
had to be called in to quell the violent outbursts that 
will occasionally occur. The asylum is under the me¬ 
dical care of Dr. Fitzpatrick, whose skill and care, sup¬ 
ported as it is by the devotion of the Sisters, has won 
success for this institution, and has led to its being able 
to send out a great number of cures. No words can fitly 
describe the arduous nature of the task the Sisters have 
undertaken for the love of God. One Sister observed 
that, had she known before she entered the order that 
she would ever be called upon to take care of lunatics, 
she did not think she ever could have joined it. Now 
that it is her appointed work she goes through it fear¬ 
lessly and cheerfully. The great difficulty is to make 
the patients eat; a disinclination for food is a constant 
accompaniment of madness. 4 The food is poisoned,’ or 
s they are dead, and don’t require any food,’ and a dozen 
other delusions are urged in answer to any entreaties. The 
struggles of the Sisters at meal times with their patients 
are most wearing. Dressing and undressing also are 
times of woe. Not only will the patients refuse to help 
themselves, but they will throw obstacles in the way 
of their attendants, and be far more troublesome than 
the most refractory child. Then in petty spite the in¬ 
sane are often ingenious. On Sundays when the Sisters 
come down in clean cornettes of snowy whiteness, the 
result of much starch and ironing, it is thought a great 
amusement to launch a cup of coffee at their heads, and 
lo ! the work of some hours is undone. It is the harder 
because the rule of the Sisters of St. Vincent enjoins 


IRISH HEARTS. 


85 


that they wash and get up their own cornettes. Then, 
what patience is required to listen to the constant 
rambling, the extraordinary stories, to soothe the wild 
delusions, to quiet the restless maniacs! Much can be 
done, say the Sisters, by moral influence. Incessant 
vigilance is required to foresee a coming storm and allay 
its violence. The patients have ingenious ways of hid¬ 
ing themselves in distant corners of the large grounds, 
so that, when the dinner bell rings, the Sisters may have 
to hunt for them. The trial of their incessant noise and 
restlessness must be very hard to bear, but the worst 
trial of all is the language which will pour forth from 
the lips of the violent. It is a strange phenomenon, of 
which no satisfactory solution has yet been given, that 
in insanity the mind turns to the very opposite of the 
direction which it took while in the exercise of its 
faculties. The fond wife turns against her husband, 
the mother forgets her child, and so, from the lips of 
those who were formerly gentle, refined, and earnestly 
religious, there flows forth foul and blasphemous lan¬ 
guage, which sickens the hearts of those compelled to 
listen. Religion has great influence over them: it has 
a softening and soothing effect on many; and then 
there are cases where a long lucid interval occurs, 
during which they can approach the sacraments. Cases 
which the Sisters have received from other asylums 
where religion formed no part of the system, were 
always the most difficult to manage. A beautiful ac¬ 
count of the working of the insane asylums in Bel¬ 
gium, under the charge of religious Sisters, gives 
■many examples, which the experience of the Sisters 
of St. Vincent bears out, of the wonderful results of 


8G 


IRISH HOMES AND 


religion on the insane. Watchful care can often per¬ 
ceive when fits of violent insanity are coming on, and, 

4 in these circumstances, confession is often made and 
the Holy Communion received: the viaticum, as it 
were, of the dolorous way through which the stricken 
spirit has to pass.’* In incurable cases, lucid intervals 
often occur before death, and then the Sisters are at 
hand to discern the first dawn of returning reason—to 
husband the precious hours—to bring to the fainting 
spirit all the succours of its holy faith before its weary 
journey be ended, and it has gone where there shall be 
no more mists or shadows, or humiliation of the body 
and intellect. 

As we passed through these melancholy rooms and 
grounds, bright even as the latter were with flowers and 
shrubs, and watched the Sisters at their task, firm, vigi¬ 
lant, alert, gentle to all, bright and cheerful in manner, 
and above all, perfectly calm and fearless, we wondered 
at the wonderful versatility of the order of St. Vincent 
de Paul—how it models its subjects for every variety of 
work, enabling them to watch over every form of suf¬ 
fering, and to pass from one employment to another 
with the greatest ease. I had last seen the superioress 
of this asylum, as a Sister, in charge of the immense 
4 lingerie ’ of the military hospital of Val de Grace , in 
Paris. There she had sat tranquilly among sheets and 
shirts, sewing on buttons and counting out towels. Life 
had flowed by her in quiet routine, and she had loved 
her community well. At the instant call of obedience 
she went out to another field as widely different as could 
be well conceived, and here she was mo vine; about 

CD 


* The Month , July 1864. 


IRISH HEARTS. 


87 


among the lunatics as tranquilly and as calmly as when 
in her linen store, glad and joyful to be doing the will 
of God. ‘ It is not a work that any one would choose,’ 
she observed ; 6 but, after all, the insane are the ?nost 
forsaken of all God’s creatures.'’ And I felt how true 
these words were, no matter in what rank they may be 
born—how lovable and charming they may have been 
—their family are afraid of them, want to hide them 
out of sight, and get rid of them ; and as I quitted this 
‘ home for the forsaken,’ I felt that I had witnessed 
to what heights the self-abnegation of a Sister of Charity 
can attain, and rejoiced that in Ireland true-hearted 
women had been found who would devote themselves to 
the care of these afflicted and lonely beings. Though 
the Sisters of St. Vincent are a French order, a great 
number of Irish and English ladies have, of late years, 
joined their ranks. Some of the ancient names of Eng¬ 
land have sent daughters to swell their numbers. At 
the asylum the community is entirely of Irish and Eng¬ 
lish Sisters. In North William Street, the superioress 
only is a Frenchwoman. 

In Mount Street, near Merrion Square, Dublin, I 
found a house of Nursing Sisters, or ( Dames de Bon 
Secours,’ a branch of the well-known order in France. 
These Sisters are trained to nurse the sick; they leave 
their convent and go to the houses of either rich or 
poor, performing the work of a nurse, and doing all 
they can with both body and soul of their patients. 
They return to their convent from time to time for both 
bodily and mental rest. This has been found a very 
useful order in Ireland, and Protestants as well as 
Catholics often ask for the Sisters’ services. When I 


88 


IRISH HOMES AND 


visited the house, the whole community, with the 
exception of the superioress and one Sister, were out 
nursing. As the house is simply adapted for their re¬ 
sidence when resting from their labours, there is, of 
course, nothing observable about it. The chapel, which 
I visited, is merely a large room fitted up with great 
care for the purpose. 

Dublin abounds in pretty suburbs. Turn in what 
direction you will, you soon come to shady lanes and 
green fields. From the Drumcondra Road many of the 
former branch out; and one pleasant Sunday afternoon, 
when the first leaves of autumn were beginning to fall, 
we turned our steps towards High Park Convent. This 
convent, as its name denotes, stands in the midst of a 
small but exceedingly pretty park, Avhich visitors see 
to advantage, having to walk some distance through it 
from the porter’s lodge to the convent. The house of 
the former owners of the place has been converted, 
with additions, into a convent, and creepers grow over 
the front of the house, and a prettily-laid-out garden is 
on one side. Some hundreds of yards from this house 
stands a large and rather gloomy-looking building, which 
is used as an asylum for penitents; it is quite separate 
from the convent, but the penitents and the Sisters in 
charge of them come up often in the day to the convent 
chapel. At the rear of the convent is a low range of 
buildings, formerly out-houses, but converted with much 
ingenuity into habitations for human beings. The 
entrance to these was locked, and, on beinor ushered 
within them by a courteous nun of the Good Shep¬ 
herd, we found ourselves in the midst of a number of 
reformatory children, who, at that moment, were in the 


IRISH HEARTS. 


89 


playground. This reformatory is under government 
inspection, and contains about forty children, most of 
whom had the bold glance and the hardened manner 
habitual to children who have been early accustomed 
to sin—who have lost their innocence before they knew 
its value—who have been taught to curse instead of to 
bless—to mock instead of to reverence. Here they are 
undergoing the sentence of the law for some offence or 
other—a regiment of miniature prisoners, defiant and 
cunning and hard to manage, with the bloom of child¬ 
hood rudely rubbed off, and with no womanly steadiness 
and self-respect to take its place. They formed a 
great contrast to the penitents whom we afterwards saw 
—the voluntary prisoners who, knowing their own de¬ 
gradation, and having tasted the bitterness of sin, have 
willingly entered these sheltering walls, and are trying 
to regain their good name, and to make their peace with 
God. We asked the Sister which of the two works was 
the most trying. She said the reformatory was by far 
the most arduous ; the penitents were in all ways more 
amenable to rule and easy to manage. She told us sad 
histories of some of the reformatory children. One of 
them had come from a family of thieves—father, mother, 
brothers, sisters, and even grand-parents having fol¬ 
lowed the trade. She told us of others whose parents 
drove them out to steal—of parents waiting like harpies 
for the day on which their child’s sentence expires, to 
drag it into fresh crime, utterly ignoring and defeating 
the efforts of the nuns to provide honest employment 
for it in the future. Such are some of the trials and 
discouragements with which the religious have to con¬ 
tend. To counterbalance them they have the comfort 


90 


IKJSH HOMES AND 


of knowing that many of the children improve during 
their detention; the kindness shown them softens their 
hearts, and they go out really reformed. Some do well 
afterwards; and, even in those on whom time and 
anxiety have been apparently wasted, there is hope that 
the good seed may be lying dormant and some day may 
bear fruit. They have, at all events, been taught what 
is right; their detention has been a time for learning 
good—not of increasing evil—and those to whose charge 
they have been committed can feel they have done what 
they could. We saw the refectory and schoolroom of the 
reformatory. They are well contrived in buildings which 
we should have thought it impossible could ever have 
been converted into useful rooms; but new buildings are 
greatly needed: neither air nor space are sufficiently 
allowed in the present ones, besides which room for 
additional children is very much required. 

One great difficulty in this reformatory is the want 
of work; employment is absolutely necessary for the 
children; needlework is their only resource, and even 
this is hard to get. As the Government allowance for 
each child is by no means sufficient for all the expenses, 
the Sisters would be glad to get any work which would 
bring in a moderate profit, but they have not been 
able to procure such. The work we saw was exceed¬ 
ingly well done; we were shown some coloured shirts, 
requiring plenty of neat, strong work, which were 
supplied from a shop in Glasgow. The owner of them 
said he would give some more. Yes, and well might 
the canny Scotsman promise a supply, seeing that he 
paid for the making the liberal sum of half a crown per 
dozen, or twopence halfpenny each. The penitents are 


IRISH HEARTS. 


91 


chiefly employed in laundry work, and fine large laun¬ 
dries are attached to their asylum. 

It was the hour for vespers when we left the re¬ 
formatory, and all the penitents were assembled in the 
chapel. Their quiet, subdued appearance and reverent 
manner was refreshing after seeing the poor children. 
The system of this asylum differs from that at Donny- 
brook. The women remain two years and then are 
provided with situations ; some few, however, who wish 
to remain for life can do so. 

The Sisters of the Good Shepherd are a French 
order ; there are two distinct branches of them in Ire¬ 
land, differing only in their form of government. The 
Sisters at High Park are independent of any other 
house, receive and train their own novices, and are 
entirely under the control of the bishop of the diocese. 

On the road to High Park we passed the College of 
All Hallows, a fine extensive building surrounded by 
large grounds. It was a generous thought for Ireland 
amidst her many home wants to provide a college for 
missionary priests, and it has been nobly carried out. 
The idea of its foundation originated with a single 
priest, without money and influence, but with a great 
deal of faith, zeal, and perseverance. Around such a 
one others always gather, and so from a small begin¬ 
ning All Hallows has attained its present fair propor¬ 
tions, and it now receives a large number of students, 
and sends out priests every year to foreign missions. 
The chapel and library are well worth seeing. 

The nuns of the Sacred Heart have also given their 
services to Ireland. This order was founded in France 
immediately after the French Revolution, and the nuns 


IRISH HOMES AND 


92 

make an especial vow of devoting themselves to edu¬ 
cation. They educate both rich and poor; and in 
Ireland they have three convents. I was only able to 
visit the one near Dublin. These nuns had formerly 
occupied the house at Glasnevin, now the property of 
the Sisters of the Faith, and on removing from thence 
had purchased the house and grounds belonging to the 
late Mr. Dargan, near Stillorgan. The house is not 
sufficiently large for the purpose, and when I visited 
the convent workmen were busily employed in raising 
additional buildings. The grounds are magnificent, 
and were laid out by Mr. Dargan with admirable taste. 
It was at this residence that the Queen came to visit 
Mrs. Dargan when in Ireland, to mark her sense of 
the great services Mr. Dargan had rendered his coun¬ 
try. From the tower of this house there is a mag¬ 
nificent view extending over several counties. The 
nuns have a boarding school for young ladies, and a 
day school for poor children. 

I took a delightful drive along the western side of 
the Phoenix Park to visit the convent of the Sisters of 
St. Joseph at Mount Sackville. The park quite sur¬ 
passed my expectations of its beauty ; it is indeed a 
park for a city to boast of, and I think the most envi¬ 
able part of the Viceregal office must be the possession 
of the Lodge situated in the midst of this lovely domain. 
As we neared Mount Sackville, we had a fine view 
of the Strawberry Beds on the north bank of the 
Liffey, the favourite summer resort of Dublin residents. 
The house chosen for the convent stands in an excellent 
situation, with a lovely view on all sides, and fresh air 
in abundance. The Sisters of St, Joseph are a French 


IRISH HEARTS. 


03 


order, and have many houses in France and the French 
colonies. They can undertake all works of mercy; 
but their house in Dublin, when I visited it, was in¬ 
tended only for a young ladies’ school. The nuns 
received us most kindly, and courteously showed their 
little chapel, and their large garden, and gave us all 
the information we wanted. Their habit is picturesque, 
being of dark blue, with white coif and black veil. 

I have already spoken of the religious institu¬ 
tions in the neighbourhood of Dublin, at Merrion, 
Black Bock, and Stillorgan. At Booterstown there is 
a convent of Sisters of Mercy, a branch from Baggot 
Street. Here are large poor schools and an orphanage. 

At Kingstown is a convent of the Sisters of St. 
Dominic, built on an eminence, with very fine grounds, 
and commanding a magnificent view of the bay and 
mountains. This order has a school for young ladies 
and a poor school of eight hundred and sixty-seven 
children. 

An orphanage managed by ladies, and called St. 
Joseph’s, is well worth a visit. Some of the ladies who 
superintend it live in their own families, and give to 
it what time they can spare; others live altogether 
with the children. The latter seemed particularly well- 
trained, bright, and intelligent. Their singing was very 
good ; one little creature had an exquisite voice, and 
was besides so exceedingly pretty that she especially 
needed a safe shelter and a careful training to prepare 
her for her future life. 

I believe the plan of keeping the children till they 
are quite grown up is in operation at this orphanage, 
and that so far the result has been satisfactory. 


94 


IRISH HOMES AND 


The orphanage stands in a good situation adjoining 
fields; there is no wall around the garden, and all is 
free and open, forming a strange contrast to its neigh¬ 
bour a quarter of a mile off, the celebrated c Birds’ 
Nest,’ whose dismal playground shut in by high walls 
and locked dormitory, denote its true character—a 
prison for Catholic children. The girls of St. Joseph 
among their other accomplishments are taught to bake 
bread, a most useful preparation for domestic service. 
The bread seemed to us excellent, and the elder girls 
take great pride in making it so. The children looked 
thoroughly happy, and evidently every effort of the 
cheerful beaming superintendent was directed to mak¬ 
ing them so, and bringing them up to be useful and 
happy in the future. 


IRISH HEARTS. 95 


CHAPTER VI. 

Notwithstanding the arrival of so many foreign 
orders, and the rapid increase and growth. of those 
of native birth, Ireland is still putting forth new 
blossoms of good works and devoted lives. A new 
religious congregation of women has recently been 
canonically erected by the Cardinal Archbishop of 
Dublin, under the title of Sisters of the Holy Faith, 
and closely connected with it is an excellent and 
charitable work known as St. Brigid’s Orphanage. 
To speak of it rightly brings me to a painful subject, 
and one on which I would fain not touch, but that 
it is impossible to avoid it; I mean the disgraceful 
practice of what is called souperism. In looking into 
the past history of Ireland we have seen the various 
efforts made to draw the poor Irish, and especially 
their children, from their ancient faith. But as years 
have passed on, and at the present day when some 
of the rooted prejudices of our fathers have been torn 
up, and when the Irish Catholics have made such 
great efforts to educate their own children, in spite of 
difficulties, we should have imagined that this form 
of persecution would have vanished away, and been 
among the things that were. On the contrary, it is 
lively and rampant to the present day; more rancorous, 


96 IRISH HOMES AND 

X 

more bitter, and more unprincipled than ever, 4 Sou- 
perism,’ indeed, may be said to have attained its full 
maturity at the very time when the dictates of mere 
humanity would, we should have thought, have silenced 
it for ever. The time of the Irish famine ! We know— 
nay, rather, alas ! we do not rightly know that lament¬ 
able history. Sitting at home by our comfortable 
English firesides, we did not fully estimate the suffer¬ 
ings of that slow, lingering death by starvation. We 
can hardly realise the scenes witnessed at pleasant 
country houses in Ireland when the lawn would be 
covered by gaunt hungry forms, strong men wasted to 
a shadow, women with dying children in their arms 
calling out to the mistress of the house, 4 Don’t be 
afraid, ma’am; if you have nothing for us, tell us so and 
we will go quietly away.’ At such a time as this, when 
the brave and patient people were in the throes of their 
strong agony, the detestable (may we not say dia¬ 
bolical?) system of souperism put forth a new and 
strong development. 

The agents and helpers of this society, which is 
called by many names, and has various branches, were 
not ashamed to tempt the starving man to sell his soul; 
were not ashamed to snatch the child from its mother’s 
arms, promising food and shelter at the price of that 
child’s faith. No one can ever forget the efforts that 
were made in England to assist the Irish in their dire 
distress. Government did much, and private charity 
was not behindhand. Crowds of Protestants save relief 
to the poor Irish, neither asking nor caring whether 
they were Catholics or not, and numbers of generous 
hearts in England sent large alms to their suffering 


IRISH HEARTS. 


97 


fellow-creatures with no thought of anything save of 

their misery. But there were others whose course was 
«/ 

very different, and who took advantage of the misery 
of the poor to tamper with their consciences. And 
deep was the injury they did to Ireland. Not on 
account of their converts—for after all their pains and 
their expenditure, the numbers are very small, and 
those whom they have perverted are precisely those 
whose loss is little felt—but on account of the bitter 
feeling against England which their proceedings tend 
to keep up in the minds of large classes of the Irish. 
At the time of the famine much might have been done 
to cement a cordial feeling between the two countries, 
if help and sympathy had been given with universal 
generosity. When Irish people are doing their utmost 
to relieve the wants of their poor, giving up their 
patrimony, and devoting their whole lives to the cause 
of education or the works of mercy, or when good 
undertakings are being raised up and supported by 
the pence of the poor , what effect must the proceedings 
of a body like the Irish Church Missions produce 
on them? Here they see 26 , 000 /. sent from England 
annually, for no other purpose than to try to undo 
or to mar the efforts of their whole lives. They see 
starving Protestants neglected in order that starving 
Catholics may be tempted. They see ladies and gen¬ 
tlemen, when they find themselves unable to turn the 
poor man from his faith, bribing him to give up his chil¬ 
dren to be brought up in one which they must know 
that in his secret heart he disbelieves, and they see 
this work wrought by English gold and too often by 
English hands, supported by noble names, patronised 


98 


IRISH HOMES AND 


sometimes by the very rulers whom they are bound to 
respect; and then at the same instant they are told 
that in England truth and honour are valued beyond 
all other possessions. The latter assertion must seem 
to them a mockery, and the whole proceeding must 
tend, and does tend, to estrange them from a 
country from which they have a right to expect better 
treatment. The progress of the soupers with the 
adult poor is very slow; they only succeed in obtaining 
the nominal conversion of handfuls of them, who are 
unable to resist the tempting offers made to them. A 
story told at the time of the famine may be taken as 
a fair illustration of the way in which adult converts 
are made. 

A poor man sorely tried by hunger made up his 
mind to e turn sou per.’ He went into a Catholic 
church and looking at the altar with its Tabernacle 
said, 4 Good-bye, God Almighty! when the famine’s over 
I’ll come back to ye.’ Dr. Forbes, in his 4 Memo¬ 
randums in Ireland,’ says, c the conversion movement 
originated in the year of famine,’ a fact which of itself 
would be enough to throw suspicion upon it. In truth, 
so unsatisfactory have the adult converts proved, so 
addicted are they to the practice of what is called 
e jumping’ back to their ancient creed, to sending for 
a priest in their last moments, and otherwise disap¬ 
pointing their patrons, that the efforts of the soupers 
are now more exclusively directed to another branch 
of mischief more costly, but far more sure of success 
—the perversion of children. 

A bad Catholic in Ireland can always sell his 
.children if he only apply at the right quarter, and 


IRISH HEARTS. 


99 


orphanages of various kinds and under various names 
have been raised for the sole purpose of receiving 
these Catholic children. 

So pressing and increasing became this evil that it 
was determined in Ireland to make a strenuous effort 
to resist it, and St. Brigid’s Society took its rise for 
this purpose, placing itself under the patronage of a 
well loved Irish saint. Its object was to receive such 
children as were in danger of losing their faith, and 
the founders of the charity were determined not to 
relax their efforts till five hundred children should 
have been rescued. 

The mode of management of this institution is al¬ 
most unique , and could not be carried out in any 
country so well (if indeed practicable at all) as in 
Ireland. Instead of placing the children in an or¬ 
phanage and thus incurring the expense of building or 
renting a house with its inevitable cost of management, 
the children of St. Brigid are placed with respectable 
peasants in the country, who are paid for each child’s 
board and clothing. These families are carefully 
selected, and are bound by certain rules in regard 
to the children, such as that they shall be kept clean 
and tidy and sent to school. 

Generally, several children are placed in one parish, 
which seems to keep up an emulation among these 
foster-parents. At certain times the managers of St. 
Brigid’s go to the place where the orphans are and hold 
an examination, and prizes are given to the parents, 
consisting of ten shillings for each child that proves to 
have been kept up to the standard which the managers 
have laid down for it. The plan has answered 


100 


IRISH HOMES AND 


admirably; the work of St. Brigid’s has been visibly 
blessed; funds have flowed in and helpers have come 
forward; and, in 1866, when the tenth report of the 
society was put forth, the managers were able to state 
that 622 orphans had since 1857 passed under their care. 
It is curious to look at the subscription list of this cha¬ 
rity ; there is but one sum which would be reckoned in 
England as a large subscription ; but as the amounts de¬ 
crease in size they increase in number, till at last it be¬ 
comes evident that the mite of the poor man and the 
hardly-won money of the middle class have been largely 
given to aid in this good work. This work was set on foot 
by a lady named Miss Margaret Aylward, whose early 
exertions in behalf of the poor were rewarded by six 
months’ imprisonment on most unjust grounds. After 
her release other ladies gathered round her, and by 
degrees a religious community has sprung into being. 
These Sisters, besides undertaking the large amount of 
work which the management of such a widely-scattered 
family as the children of St. Brigid must entail, have 
opened in various parts of Dublin six poor schools, for 
besides the orphanages the f soupers ’ have started poor 
schools, where clothing, food, and other bribes are freely 
given, and the Sisters of the Faith found that addi¬ 
tional schools to the existing ones were needed to 
combat this evil. After the labours of the day the 
Sisters retire to a beautiful convent at Glasnevin, sur¬ 
rounded by extensive grounds, through which the little 
river Tolka takes its way. Glasnevin was in early ages 
the home of saints. St. Columba e came to the little 
monastery of Glasnevin near Dublin and found himself 
to his great delight in the company of St. Comgal, 


IRISH HEARTS. 


101 


St. Canice, and St. Ivieran.’ It is therefore a fitting 
site for a religious house, and suited for those whose 
special mission is to sustain in Ireland the faith that 
these great saints sought to plant. 

It is chiefly in Ireland that children could be safely 
placed in country villages and left to the guardianship 
of the peasants. In many parts of England and 
Scotland immorality is as rife in the country as in 
towns; in Ireland, whatever may be the faults of the 
people, the innocence of children is safe among the 
peasantry. In Ireland only would one remarkable 
result of placing the children among peasants be 
attained. Many of the people insist on adopting the 
orphans, some before their time 4 on the books ’ of 
St. BrigkTs is expired, and others as soon as the 
managers announce that they must remove the chil¬ 
dren and place them out to earn their own living. The 
report of St. Brigid’s for 1865 states that twenty chil¬ 
dren were thus adopted ; in 1866, twenty-seven. The 
managers of St. Brigid’s rejoice greatly over this fact, 
not on account of their release from responsibility and 
expense, but because the poor orphan has now found 
what St. Brigid’s could not give him—a home. And 
this leads me to say a word on the vexed question of 
orphanages, and the relative merits of the system 
of St. Brigid’s, and that of the more usual one of 
bringing up the children in large masses under the 
care of religious. It is in Ireland chiefly that a 
discussion of this question is useful, for the plan of 
St. Brigid’s has never yet been tried on a large 
scale in England. In England the present plan of 
orphanages is a necessity, and it is certain that in 


102 


IRISH HOMES AND 


Ireland the existence of both systems is also a neces- 

%/ 

sity. There are some cases which can only be properly 
dealt with in regular orphanages. 

As regards St. Brigid’s, the benefits seem to be as 
follows: Firsts economy—no slight recommendation 
when people have to contend against the lavish out¬ 
pouring of English wealth on the wrong cause; the 
Sisters of the Faith maintain 256 orphans, and manage 
six day schools, with an income of 1,903/. Secondly, 
their system tends to provide the children with homes 
and friends of their own, and thus to prevent them from 
ever being such waifs and strays of humanity as poor 
orphans often run a chance of becoming. Even in the 
cases when the foster-parents cannot adopt them, they 
have a great affection for them, and always look on them 
as bound to themselves by a certain tie. Thirdly, they 
are more fitted for the rough path in life they have to 
pursue. The child in the orphanage is brought up too 
tenderly; her life flows on in an easy routine; she is 
under the care of kind and gentle teachers, striving to be 
just in all their dealings with her; food and clothing come 
to her without any trouble. It is true she is taught to 
work for the general good, but not for her own individual 
wants and needs, and all this produces a tendency to 
helplessness. When she goes out of the peaceful con¬ 
vent, and hears rough words, and meets the petty in¬ 
justice, thoughtlessness, and selfishness which those who 
live in the world must meet, she is dismayed, frets to 
get back again, and finding that impossible, often gives 
up the struggle in despair. On the other hand, the 
advocates of the old system plead that in Irish country 
cabins you cannot train the children in proper habits 


IRISH HEARTS. 


103 


of cleanliness, order, and industry; you cannot fit 
them for domestic service; you reduce them to a lower 
level, instead of raising them to a higher; that if well 
brought up in orphanages they will be able to provide 
for themselves, and so gain friends, and have homes of 
their own. It will be seen that the arguments on 
both sides apply principally to girls ; indeed, for boys I 
think it is a matter of indifference under which system 
they are brought up, but for girls it is really an im¬ 
portant question. The report of St. B rigid’s states 
that the children placed out in the world are doing 
well, with a very few exceptions. The greatest fault 
to be found with the old orphanage management—and 
this equally applies to England—is that it does not 
train orphan girls to be good servants. The want of 
good domestic servants is becoming a serious evil, and 
the tendency of girls of the lower classes to reject this 
mode of livelihood, and adopt others of e more freedom, 
more independence,’ is certainly injurious to them, and 
it is but natural to expect that orphanages would do 
something to stem this evil. Yet the complaints of 
those who take servants from these institutions are all 
but universal, and cannot, therefore, be considered as 
the prejudices of a few. The great cause, we believe, 
arises from sending out the children far too young. 
The French orphanages, which do train good servants, 
keep their girls till they are twenty-one. It is the 
custom in our orphanages to send out the girls at four¬ 
teen or fifteen, before the character is formed, the prin¬ 
ciples strengthened, or the habit of steady exertion has 
been formed. At eighteen or nineteen a girl may wish 
to see the world even if it cost her some trouble, may 


104 


IRISH HOMES AND 


be tired of living a dull and monotonous life, and of 
being treated like a child, but she will have overcome 
these feelings when four or five years younger. 

The managers of St. Brigid’s are able to record 

O O 

with thankfulness that not one of their children has 
been sent to a reformatory or prison, or even brought 
before a magistrate. 

Touching anecdotes can be told of the affection and 
gratitude of the orphans. A little boy, when placed 
out to service, came to the Sisters with his Christmas 
box of four shillings. Another, in announcing a rise in 
his wages, said, 4 Then I can support my poor mother, 
and I’ll pay for two of the orphans too.’ 

As an instance of the affection of the foster-parents, 
the following may be given: A little boy, after being 
four years on the books, gave signs of idiocy: it was 
necessary to send him to the union, as he could not be 
a permanent burden on the orphanage; but when the 
nurse heard of it, she said she would adopt him. 4 Is 
he of any service to you ? ’ was asked. 4 What service 
could the poor boy be to me ? But he is a loving child, 
and if he must be put off the books. I’ll keep him, I’ll 
be a mother to him.' Such, then, is the history of St. 
Brigid’s, 4 a simple story of a good work silently, labo¬ 
riously, and successfully carried on.’ 

There are many charitable institutions in Dublin 
under the management of seculars instead of religious. 
The most remarkable of these is the Night Befuge for 
women and children. It is situated in the worst and 
most wretched part of Dublin, 4 the Liberties,’ and 
therefore easily to be found by the miserable class of 
people for whom it is intended. This admirable in- 


IRISH HEARTS. 


105 


stitution was founded by an excellent priest, the Rev. 
Dr. Spratt, and has continued for many years under 
his care. He has been fortunate in securing a build¬ 
ing well suited for the purpose, an old warehouse con¬ 
taining three floors, and surrounded by a large yard. 
In this yard are large wooden doors which unclose at 
five in the evening, and remain open till nine o’clock, 
to admit homeless wanderers. The first floor of the 
Refuge contains the very poorest class who apply for 
admission, the homeless and the starving, to whom a great 
charity is done; the beds consist simply of a mattrass 
and rug laid in a sort of open wooden box, one close 
beside the other. A greater charity still to our minds 
is given to the inmates of the second floor; here are 
iron bedsteads, not so close together, and a greater air 
of comfort is apparent; it is meant for the bettermost 
poor who may be reduced to utter penury. I call it a 
greater charity, because the misery of this class, when 
brought to extremity, is greater than that of the very 
poor. The loss of shelter to them is shameful, as well 
as hard, and they are often driven into sin for want of 
it. The third floor is much smaller than those below, 
a sort of loft in fact. Here we find an altar and 
crucifix; here night and morning prayers are said, in 
which the inmates may join ; and here once a year 
mass is offered up, and that solitary occasion is the 
feast of Christmas. Could a better day be found than 
the birthday of Him for whom in a whole city there 
was no room, and whose birth took place in a poorer 
place even than a night refuge ? 

Every night the inmates of the Refuge receive a 
piece of dry bread, and in too many cases this is the 


106 


IRISH HOMES AND 


only food they taste in the day. The funds do not 
allow that even this poor relief should be given on the 
week day mornings, but it is bestowed on Sundays, as 
there is so little chance of the poor people getting any 
elsewhere. All the inmates must leave the Refuge at 
eight in the morning, and the doors are then closed till 
five in the evening, when the f refugees ’ begin to flow 
in ; the matron takes her place at a table, and inscribes 
in a book the name and occupation of each comer. It 
is left to her discernment to know who shall be sent 
to the upper dormitory. Persons in every kind of 
employment have sought refuge here. Governesses, 
dressmakers, seamstresses, domestic servants, some 
more, some less respectable, have implored shelter 
in these charitable walls ; and the mercy extended to 
them does not end with giving them rest, shelter, and 
food, their case is enquired into, and, if possible, means 
are devised for giving them a fresh start, and taking 
them out of the wretched class of mendicants. Many 
a poor creature has been saved from despair, many a 
wounded heart comforted by this kindly charity ; and 
many sins prevented—who can count up the sins 
avoided by the poor inmates for even one single night ? 
Every evening the Rev. Dr. Spratt comes himself to 
the Refuge, and sees that all is going on well. Here 
he is truly like a father amidst his children, a wretched 
and miserable crowd, dirty and footsore, homeless and 
friendless, cold and hungry, but still the children of 
that heavenly Father who rejects no one, and whose 
example His faithful servant is thus following. This 
good priest is also responsible for the whole expense of 
the institution, and has of course to beg for it the alms 


IRISH HEARTS. 


107 


of the charitable. Like every other work of charity it is 
capable of being imposed upon ; but we imagine that 
the simplicity of the accommodation would prevent 
any but those in real need from availing themselves 
of it. 

A brief record of the numbers admitted each week 
to the Refuge appears in the Freeman's Journal. I 
extract the following at hazard :— 

c The Night Refuge. —Weekly return of admis¬ 
sions into St. Joseph’s Night Refuge, Brickfield Lane, 
Cork Street, Dublin, of homeless women, girls, and 
children of good character, who there received nightly 
shelter and partial support for the week ending March 
21, 1867: Servants, 229; children, 68; children’s 
maids, 28 ; cooks, 23 ; laundresses, 31 ; plain workers, 
44 ; shirtmakers, 24 ; dressmakers, 9 ; school teachers, 
7 ; bookbinders, 10 ; petit dealers, 27 ; factory girls, 36 ; 
knitters, 42 ; travellers, 29 ; shop women, 7 ; scourers, 
38—total, 651.’ 

In Mecklenburgh Street, Dublin, is a penitentiary 
containing thirty-three women under the charge of a 
matron. It does not differ from the ordinary aspect of 
such institutions, except in the circumstances of its 
foundation. Bridget Burke was a poor widow, who 
after her husband’s death became a domestic servant. 
While in this employment she began to take a lively 
interest in the fallen of her own sex, and rescued one 
after another of them from evil courses. A good man 
about the same rank in life as herself helped her, and 
at last proposed to her that they should take a house in 
which to receive penitents. ( But,’ exclaimed Bridget, 
c sure we have no money.’— f Let us have confidence in 


108 


IRISH HOMES AND 


God,’ he answered; 4 let us place it under the pro¬ 
tection of the Blessed Trinity. They knelt down to¬ 
gether and prayed. On rising, Mr. Quarterman said, 
4 Here is a penny.’ Bridget gave another; a third 
was contributed by her daughter, and with this sum 
they commenced their undertaking; they began to 
collect, and most of their funds came from the poor, 
chiefly domestic servants, and so the work prospered 
and grew into its present form. Many of the poor 
creatures rescued by Bridget, after a probation, found 
employment, and did exceedingly well: some married; 
and touching stories are told of the gratitude that many 
evinced to the charitable woman, who out of her own 
poverty had thus aided them in their dire necessity. 

Not far from the convent of North William Street 
is a building with somewhat of a conventual appear¬ 
ance, although it is unfortunately not under the care 
of religious. It is an asylum popularly called the 4 Old 
Maids’ Home,’ and intended to receive respectable 
single women when age and failing health have made 
them unable to earn their own bread. The building 
is well adapted to its purpose; and there is a little 
chapel attached to the house, where mass is daily said ; 
a chapel that would be pretty if it were only clean. 
This institution proved by no means a pleasant sight; 
from one end to the other it Avas extremely dirty, un¬ 
tidy, and forlorn looking. The infirmary, in which 
were several sick women, was fearfully close, and was 
in terrible need of ventilation. The matron seemed 
a most unfit person for the charge. She was far too 
old, bent, feeble, had lost all her teeth—in fact was 
almost decrepid. It is impossible she can rightly 


IRISH HEARTS. 


109 


manage such an institution ; none of the inmates looked 

comfortable or cared for. I wished for a fairy wand to 

be able to put the institution under the charge of the 

Sisters of Charity, or the 4 Little Sisters of the Poor,’ 

and then to behold the chancre that their arrival would 

© 

create. Soap and water, fresh air, and a wholesome 
atmosphere would attend their footsteps, and the poor 
inmates’ faces would brighten, and peace and content 
reign in the house. 

There are various confraternities and guilds in 

© 

Dublin, in fact far too numerous to be noticed at any 
length. Bands of men and women join together for 
prayer or good works and meet at certain hours. One 
great use of these confraternities is the high tone they 
tend to keep up in their members; any member 
guilty of a serious offence would be disgraced before 
his fellow-members and expelled from their company. 
The Confraternity of the Sacred Heart were most 
under my notice, as they came for their devotions to 
the church of St. Francis Xavier, Gardiner Street, 
near which I happened to reside. A number of men, 
apparently respectable mechanics, met the first five 
evenings of the week, at eight p.m. They did not 
need any priest to direct their devotions, but performed 
them among themselves,if not very melodiously, at least 
very fervently. It was a picturesque sight to see the 
group with their lighted candles at the bottom of the 
nave, while the rest of the large handsome church, with 
its side chapels, was hidden in gloom, lighted only by the 
dim rays of the altar lamp. This church on Friday and 
Saturday evenings is also a sight worthy the attention 
of a tourist. It is literally filled with people waiting their 


110 


IRISH HOMES AND 


turn around one of the fourteen confessionals. There 
may be seen people of every rank, of every position 
in life, but notably the poor, in earnest attentive groups. 
It is a moving phalanx. The people who were there 
before seven gradually move on, confess, and depart; 
they are succeeded by others, and it is long past ten 
o’clock before the numbers begin to thin. 

On Sunday morning the scene is equally remarkable. 
The masses commence at six, and continue every half- 
hour till noon ; often three or four masses are going on 
at different altars at the same moment. At all these are 
crowds of communicants, and a priest has to descend to 
the communion rails, placed in the nave, to communicate 
the mass of people, who would otherwise obstruct the 
way. This is not peculiar to St. Francis Xavier’s; the 
same scene might be witnessed at the Cathedral in 
Marlborough Street, St. Dominic’s, and many of the 
other large churches in Dublin. The most ordinary 
spectator could hardly fail to be struck with the fervour 
and devotion of these crowded congregations. There is 
little ceremonial in Dublin except at the Cathedral 
Church, where the offices are grandly performed ; but 
elsewhere beauty of ceremonial is little regarded, and 
certainly it has not been by 4 appealing to the senses ’ 
that the faith of the Irish has been sustained. The 
beauties of architecture, rare paintings, stained win¬ 
dows, good church music, incense, and gorgeous 
vestments, were for centuries unknown to the Irish 
people ; but without any of these things their faith 
was fervent and clear, and their devotion intense and 
fruitful. 


IRISH HEARTS. 


Ill 


CHAPTER VII. 



Drogheda is easily reached by rail from Dublin—the 
line running a great part of the way along the coast, 
and giving the traveller pleasant sea views. The great 
lion of the place is, of course, the viaduct which spans 
the River Boyne, at a height of 90 feet. The railway 
passes over it, and it is a curious sight, when standing 
on terra Jirma , to watch the progress of the train over 
the perilous height. Viewed from the railway station, 
Drogheda is a most picturesque town, divided in two 
parts by the River Boyne, the c nun-faced river,’ broad 
and clear, with a crowd of shipping lying on her waters. 
The town has a singularly twofold character, standing 
in two counties, two ecclesiastical provinces, and two 
dioceses. The busy part of the town lies in a deep 
valley, and the descent from the railway station is a 
sharp one. Half-way down, my attention was attracted 
by a pretty Gothic building, surrounded by shrubs and 
flowers. On enquiry, I found it to be the poorhouse, 
and then the mullioned windows and pretty ornaments 
appeared a great mockery of the misery within. Climb¬ 
ing a steep and dirty lane behind the poorhouse, I 
gained the heights commanding a good view of the town, 
and found myself on the spot from which the batteries 


112 


IRISH HOMES AXD 


of Cromwell first opened on the devoted city, and from 
whence he directed the siege. At no great distance 
stands St. Mary’s Protestant Church, an ugly modern 
building, which occupies the site of the Church of St. 
Mary of Mount Carmel, that fell the first day that 
Cromwell’s cannon began to play upon the town. In 
the churchyard still stands a fragment of the old walls, 
covered with moss—all that has survived the batteries 
of Cromwell and the ravages of time. Descending a 
long flight of steps leading from St. Mary’s, I found 
myself in the streets, and found also, alas! that the 
enchantment lent by distance had vanished, and that 
Drogheda was a very dirty old town. It was raining, 
and the streets were literally a sea of black mud, and it 
was a relief to make a temporary halt at the Imperial 
Hotel, where cleanliness, comfort, and civility reigned 
supreme. Leaving the centre of the town, and climb¬ 
ing the hill on the north side, I came to St. Peter’s 
Church, also modern and Protestant, but of better 
architecture than St. Mary’s. It occupies the site of 
the ancient St. Peter’s Church, and the principal scene 
of the horrors of that most horrible siege, when 4 there 
was no mercy for man, or woman, or child.’ 4 The 
grey old veteran of a hundred fights and the little child 
of a year old ; the fair-faced Leinster woman, singing 
her Irish song as the tall Tipperary grenadiers strode 
up the hill; the brilliant young English cavalier and 
the wild Wicklow chief; the grave alderman at the 
Thorsel; the circumspect gunner at the Millmount; 
priest of hoary head, and lady of high degree—all alike 
doomed to mingle their blood in a stream full enough to 
flow from the steps of St. Peter’s Church to the river 


IRISH HEARTS. 


113 


wharves.’* For four days the carnage raged, till the 
Parliamentary soldiers were able to report that it was 
finished and ‘ none spared.’ 

Drogheda seems to abound in Catholic churches. I 
went into three, and learned there were several others. 
The town is now well supplied with religious orders: 
Augustinian, Dominican, and Franciscan monks have 
each their church, in addition to those of the parishes. 
Passing along the streets we saw a poor woman standing 
at the door of one of the houses. It opened, and a 
white cornette, the well-known head-dress of the Sisters 
of St. Vincent, peeped out to answer the call. I speedily 
made my way to the same portal, and was kindly wel¬ 
comed by the superioress. It happened to be a Satur¬ 
day, c our busiest day,’ said the good Sister, f on which 
I am transformed into a banker’s clerk. We have 
under our care a home for factory girls, whose Saturday 
afternoon is free, and who come to pour their wages 
into my hands, and insist on their accounts being kept 
for them.’ In the same street with the convent another 
house has been taken by the Sisters, in which between 
forty and fifty factory girls are lodged. Here the home¬ 
less and friendless, and those whose own homes are scenes 
of temptation, may take refuge. Here they are lodged 
and boarded, and have firing, candles, and soap for 35. a 
head per week—and the institution is entirely self-sup¬ 
porting, although the wages and board of two servants 
have to be paid out of the funds, for the factory hours 
do not allow the girls time to do their own cooking and 
cleaning. I made enquiries about the bill of fare, and, 


* Dublin Review, January 1856. 


I 


114 


IRISH HOMES AND 


although I found meat (always a rare luxury with the 
Irish poor) was not tasted more than twice a week, it 
comprised soup and potatoes for dinner, porridge for 
breakfast, and the dearly-loved comforts of butter and 
tea. The house is large, roomy, and airy. Two Sisters 
sleep there, and at half-past four every morning, no 
matter at what time of year or in what weather, have 
to traverse the short distance from the home to the con¬ 
vent, and join the community at meditation. At half¬ 
past five they return to the home to read morning 
prayers with the girls, who must be at the factory by 
six. At eight they return to breakfast, and must be 
at the factory again at nine. From one to two is the 
dinner hour, and at six the day’s work is over. Their 
evenings till nine o’clock are free, but the Sisters have 
evening classes for them, to which they persuade them 
to come. The superioress herself superintends the 
class for needlework, which she is very anxious they 
should attend. Their occupation is rough and harden¬ 
ing enough, and she is desirous that they should learn 
the art so necessary for a wOman’s own comfort and re¬ 
spectability, and so likely to render them better wives 
and mothers if they marry. At nine o’clock there are 
night prayers, and the doors are closed for the night, 
and no one can stay out after that hour. This little 
community, therefore, consists of girls who wish to lead 
a steady respectable life, for the wild ones would not 
submit to these few wholesome restraints. Their love 
and confidence for the Sisters is strong. On Saturday 
afternoon, as we have said, they bring their money to 
c Mother,’ as they insist on calling the superioress, and 
require her to manage it for them. She has first to 


IRiSII HEARTS. 


115 


deduct the 3s. due to the house, and then to enter the 
balance remaining to each girl, and to advise as to the 
disposal of it. Then she has to decide on the respective 
merits of various bonnets, shawls, and gowns, for they 
are never happy till their purchases are exhibited to 
and approved of by the Sisters. The girls are a light- 
hearted set—living in the present and thinking little of 
the future. c I cannot help laughing sometimes,’ said 
the superioress, f at the very sound of their merry hursts 
of laughter.’ Nevertheless their life is a hard one, and 
disease and death overtake them sooner than other 
women. The exposure to all weathers tells upon their 
constitutions. The sound of the factory bell must be 
obeyed to the instant, no matter whether it be through 
rain, snow, or wind ; and they often arrive at the factory 
wet to the skin, yet obliged to work for four hours 
without changing clothes or shoes. The Sisters desire 
to add on to the home an asylum for them in sickness 
or premature old age; but, for this purpose, funds are 
needed. I have rarely seen a charitable work which 
appealed more to my sympathy than this. It is so 
completely helping the poor to help themselves—keep¬ 
ing up in the girls a spirit of honest independence while 
civ in o- them at the same time the protection and guid- 
ance they require at their age and in their position— 
cuardinc them from continual and terrible temptations 
to sin. Besides the factory girls there are a few young 
dressmakers’ apprentices, from the country, serving 
their time, and thus under safe protection while away 
from their own homes. An interesting story was 
told us in connection with this home. A travelling 
pedlar, with his wife and three little girls, often passed 


116 


IRISH HOMES AND 


through Drogheda, and stayed a while in the town. The 

three children then went to school at the Presentation 

Convent, and in all their future wanderings never forgot 

the lessons they received from their kind teachers. 

While they were in Dublin the father died, and the 

mother, unable to support her children, was tempted to 

sell them to the c soupers.’ A clergyman of this school 

offered to take the three children off her hands provided 

he might bring them up Protestants. While the poor 

mother was wavering, the children themselves took 

the matter in hand, ran off to a priest, told their tale, 

and assured him that if they could only get back to 

Drogheda the Presentation nuns would take charge of 
© © 

them. The priest paid their fares, and the little group 
presented itself at the doors of the Presentation Con¬ 
vent. A consultation took place between the good 
nuns and the Sisters of St. Vincent: the result was 
that the three girls were received into the home. The 
two eldest go to the factory, and earn their own 
support; the youngest attends the Presentation school, 
and the expenses of her support are shared by the nuns 
and the Sisters. The Sisters of St. Vincent have a 
large night school, which is well attended. They also 
visit the poor of half the town, and this is a more 
than usually arduous task, for the people are miser¬ 
ably poor, and there is a very small proportion of the 
wealthier classes. Many manufacturers make money 
in Drogheda, but when it is made they hasten to spend 
it in pleasanter localities. 

Close beside the Sisters’ house stands the old gate of 
St. Lawrence, the only one left of the ten gates which 
once guarded the town. There is a portion still re- 


IRISH HEARTS. 


117 


maining of the West, or Butter Gate, but no vestige 
of the others. 

St. Lawrence’s gate is entire, and an excellent speci¬ 
men of mediaeval architecture, consisting of two circular 
towers of considerable height, pierced with loop holes. 
A short distance from the outer side of the 2 ;ate we 
found ourselves at the door of the c Sienna Convent,’ 
so called because it is dedicated to St. Catherine of 
Sienna. This convent is one of the second order of 
St. Dominic, and the nuns are enclosed. The convent 
at Drogheda has a long and eventful history attached 
to it. The last victim put to death at Tyburn under 
the penal laws was Oliver Plunkett, Archbishop of 
Armagh, who suffered July 11th, 1681. In his letters 
from Newgate he spoke with his usual tenderness of 
the relations who would have to mourn his loss, and 
among the others he spoke of his niece, ‘ little Cathe¬ 
rine.’ The little girl grew up, inheriting some of her 
uncle’s zeal and devotion, and at an early age entered a 
Dominican convent in Brussels. When it was decided 
to make a new foundation of the order in Ireland, 
Catherine was appointed prioress, and Drogheda was 
fixed upon as the scene of her labours. A mud cabin 
in the outskirts of the town was the first convent; from 
thence they removed to a small house in Dyer Street, a 
narrow and wretched locale. They dressed as seculars 
and were not known to be nuns, but were notwith¬ 
standing faithful and loving children of St. Dominic. 
By degrees, as the clouds of persecution began to hang 
less heavily over the land, the nuns began to build a 
house ostensibly as a school for young ladies ; they 
devoted themselves to education for the twofold object 


118 


IRISH HOMES AND 


of supporting the community, and concealing their 
religious profession. All appearance of a conventual 
building was carefully avoided, and a plain, solid look¬ 
ing house of grey stone was completed. It is sur¬ 
rounded by a large garden, and thus removed from the 
bustle of the streets; being also built on the heights 
overhanging the town, it commands a fine 'view of the 
Boyne and adjacent country. On one occasion, while 
the penal laws were still in force, the house was visited 
by government officials f searching for nuns.’ Cathe¬ 
rine Plunkett had by that time gone to her rest, and 
the prioress who held her place received them. Her 
dress, appearance, and composed manner removed all 
suspicion from herself, and when the officers asked her 
if there were any nuns in the house, she replied with 
true woman’s wit, f They are no more nuns than I am.’ 
The officers were satisfied with the reply, and withdrew. 
At length brighter times began to dawn, and the nuns 

O O o 

were able to put on their habit, and some of the 
older religious of the convent now can well remember 
that day of joy. Like so many of the ancient Irish 
convents, this house is full of traditions of saintly lives 
among those whose consecration to God was unknown 
to the world around them, and who, by perseverance 
under terror, hardship, and difficulty, won for the 
daughters who were to come after them a peaceful 
heritage. And a benediction has rested on the house. 
Gradually precept after precept of their holy rule has 
been put in force, although the difficulty of uniting its 
strict observance with the care of a large school is very 
great. There is also a poor school attached to the 
convent. When St. Dominic framed the rule for the 


IRISH HEARTS. 


119 


second order, lie did not contemplate tlie union of active 
duties with the precepts which he imposed. The nuns 
have resumed the singing of the Divine office in choir, 
and as the c vesper bell’ sounded before my visit was 
concluded, I went into the exterior chapel to be pre¬ 
sent at the service. Vespers were followed by com¬ 
pline, and it was a striking and picturesque sight. 
The choir was filled with religious in their habits and 
scapulars of white serge, the professed nuns with black, 
the novices with white veils. The community pos¬ 
sesses among its members several voices of great power 
and sweetness, and the chanting was very lovely. 
While the f Salve Regina,’ which concludes the com¬ 
pline office, was being sung, the nuns came down from 
their stalls, and passed in procession before the Prioress, 
who sprinkled them with holy water, according to an 
ancient custom of the Dominican order. 

Sienna Convent possesses another object of great 
interest, which often brings strangers on a pilgrimage 
to its doors. The head of the martyred Archbishop 
Plunkett was placed in this convent by one of his 
successors in the see of Armagh, to whom it was 
granted from Rome. The mangled remains of the 
Archbishop were after his death given to his friends, 
who interred them close beside the grave of Father 
Whitbread and four other Jesuits, also martyrs at 
Tyburn, ‘ under the north wall in St. Giles.’ The 
head and arms from the elbow were placed in a sepa¬ 
rate case. Two years afterwards the precious remains 
were removed to a Benedictine monastery at Lamb- 
spring, Germany. The head was placed in a silver 
shrine and sent to Rome, and was for a long time 


120 


IRISH HOMES AND 


preserved in a Dominican convent there. But it was 
fitting that the relic should belong to the country for 
which the Archbishop had laid down his life; and 
Sienna Convent, founded as it had been by Catherine 
Plunkett, was undoubtedly the most fitting place for it. 
It is kept in a little oratory opening from the reception 
parlour, enshrined in a little ebony temple, with four 
silver pillars. The skull is of a dark brown colour, but 
quite perfect, and the features are plainly to be re¬ 
cognised, and give evidence that some of the existing 
likenesses of Dr. Plunkett are very good ones. With 
mingled feelings of many kinds, I stood and knelt 
before the relic. Here was the silent record of Ire¬ 
land’s past; bitter persecution met by undaunted 
courage, faith, and patience to the end. Standing by 
me were the white-robed nuns, records of Ireland’s 
present putting forth daily new strength and vigour, 
and giving promise for the future. An old gray- 
lieaded bishop, whom English justice could not spare, 
was yet more honoured in his death, his memory more 
cherished and reverenced, than were ever any of her 
proud and prosperous men. And he too was the last 
on whom Tyburn’s cruel work was done; he was the 
witness and the seal of that long list of victims—the 
noble, the talented, and the holy, some in the flower of 
their days, some in declining years, both English and 
Irish—who had offered their lives for the faith. 

After taking leave of the kind and courteous nuns, 
I pursued my way to the cemetery outside the town, 
bearing the curious name of the 4 Cord,’ it is sup¬ 
posed because it was originally the burial-place of a 
convent of Poor Clares in the olden time. This, how- 


IRISH HEARTS. 


121 


ever, is simply a tradition: no traces whatever exist 
of the convent. From the cemetery I had a magnifi¬ 
cent view of the Boyne, the viaduct, and the south 
side of the town; I found myself standing exactly 
facing the spot on the opposite heights which I had 
reached in the morning, and on which Cromwell’s 
batteries had been placed. An old labouring man was 
passing through the cemetery, and was very willing 
to answer any questions. f Yes, it had always been 
supposed that there were nuns on this spot; and that 
walk,’ said he, pointing to a path shaded by trees, e was 
for many years called the tc nuns’ walk.” ’ After 
returning to the town, and passing once more through 
St. Lawrence’s Gate, I turned to the right, and made 
my way up streets built on rising ground to Mag¬ 
dalene tower, the only vestige yet left of the Do¬ 
minican monastery existing before the siege. The 
tower is very beautiful, and I should have been glad 
to get close to it; but it was so surrounded by hovels 
of the dirtiest description that it was impossible. While 
I w r as walking about, trying to get the best view I 
could, a man came up whose costume was a curiosity; 
it consisted of a mass of rags, and the wonder was how 
they all managed to keep together. There did not 
seem to be half a yard whole among them; but there 
they hung, dirty but picturesque, and crowned by 
shaggy locks and a tattered hat, from beneath which 
shone out two large bright Irish eyes. To him the 
humorous lines might certainly have been applied— 

And if my poor parents should want to discover me, 

Sure it won’t be by describing my clothes. 

He looked at me, his face lighted up, and he wanted 


12*2 


IRISH HOMES AND 


to know if I were cming to sketch the f tower.’ I said 
f No/ but I wished I could see it to better advantage ; 
whereupon he volunteered to pilot me through one 
of the hovels to the foot of the tower. This offer I 
declined, but I was struck by the lively interest the 
poor fellow took in the old ruin: the siege, and 
CromAvell, and the monks were all pat on his lips ; the 
history of the past was a vivid and familiar thing to 
him. He did not beg, but seemed to regard my investi¬ 
gation of the f ould tower’ as a personal compliment to 
himself. On the south side of the town stand the 
large schools and convent of the Sisters of Mercv. 
This, to my regret, I had not time to visit; but I learned 
that the education of the poor girls, and the visitation 
of the sick of all on this side of Drogheda, was under¬ 
taken by this community. I did not leave Drogheda 
without driving to see the celebrated ruins of Mo- 
nasterboice, about three or four miles from the town. 
They have been so often described in Irish travels, that 
I will not dwell on them, or endeavour to describe the 
round tower, the two ruined churches, and the wonder¬ 
fully sculptured crosses to be found closely grouped 
together in this lonely spot. On my journey to and 
from Monasterboice, I had a specimen of the Irish car- 
driver, who, on my asking him if he had spent all his 
life in Drogheda, replied, f Sure, liavn’t I been to 
England?’— f How long did you live there?’—‘ Sure 
and thin I went one day, and came back the next,’ 
said he, with a twinkle in his eye, as if quite aware of 
the absurdity of the proceeding; ‘ I went over to Liver¬ 
pool, and thought it was a mighty bustling place, and 
then I came back.’ 


IRISH HEARTS. 


123 


CHAPTER VIII. 

Very beautiful is the view which Rewry presents 
from the main line of railroad, as the traveller looks 
down on it, lying on the banks of the river, with 
mountains rising in the distance; and it is very curious 
to watch the train apparently climbing up the hill as 
it wends its way from Rewry to Goragh Wood, the 
junction station. There is a great confusion of sta¬ 
tions at Re wry: you can alight, if you please, at the 
main line station, and walk or ride less than two miles 
into the town; or you can get out at Goragh Wood, 
cross the line, and be conveyed in another train to the 
town. In Re wry itself there are two stations, and the 
line runs through them to its terminus at Warrenpoint. 
I had reason to remember well the railway arrange¬ 
ments at Re wry. I took my ticket at Drogheda, and 
saw my luggage labelled for Goragh Wood. On arriv¬ 
ing at my destination no luggage was to be seen; the 
van of the train I had left was open, and I spied my 
possessions and pointed them out; but the train was 
late (I doubt its ever being otherwise), the guard shut 
the van, and the train was gone. On arriving at Re wry, 
I poured my griefs into the ear of the station master, 
who telegraphed up to Goragh Wood for particulars. 
Profound silence ensued. Ro answer whatever came 
back. He then proposed telegraphing to Belfast, and 


124 


IRISH HOMES AND 


while he was doing so I went out for a short distance 
into the town. On my return, I was informed that there 
was nobody at the other end of the telegraph , and so 
he had written by the post! Unable to go on to 
Warrenpoint as I had wished, I betook myself to a 
hotel in Yewry, which turned out to be an ‘ Orange ’ 
one, for at JSTewry one has entered the north, and 
finds oneself between the two contending armies. The 
next morning was Sunday, and I had an amusing 
illustration of the way in which the poorer Irish 
answer a question. Being too late for the eight 
o’clock mass at the Cathedral, and finding the next 
mass was at ten, I asked the chambermaid if there 
were not one at another church. 4 Yes,’ she said, ‘ at 
the old chapel at half-past eight, if you can only find 
the way; go straight up the street, and then ask.’ I 
set out, and soon after passing the Cathedral asked 
a bright-looking servant girl, in her Sunday best and 
prayer book in hand, the way to the old chapel. 

c But sure there’s no mass there,’ was the reply; and 
do what I would, I could get no other answer. Seeing a 
postman the other side of the street I crossed over and 
asked my way of him. f But sure there’s no mass there,’ 
w^as his reply ; and as he had evidently no intention of 
directing me further, I gave it up and retraced my 
steps to the hotel. The idea of answering the question 
simply, and leaving me to find out my own mistake, 
never occurred to either of my informants. Newry 
is a bright, clean, cheerful-looking town, with some 
large fine streets and good buildings. It seems also 
busy and stirring; there is access every half hour by 
train to Warrenpoint, the port of the town, and an 


IRISH HEARTS. 


12o 


exceedingly pretty sea-side place, only less lovely than 
its little neighbour Rostrevor. Warrenpoint is greatly 
frequented in the summer, and a great number of 
lodging houses have been built to supply the demand. 
On Sundays the whole c aristocracy’ of the town hasten 
to their favourite place of resort. The Cathedral of 
Xewry is nothing more than a large handsome parish 
church, with good proportions, and well lighted. It 
was filled with a large attentive congregation, both 
at the four masses and in the evening. Until the year 
1830 not a single convent existed either in Xewry or 
even in the whole of Ulster, so virulent was the spirit 
of the Orange party. In that year, however, it was 
determined to break ground, and a community of 
Poor Clares from Dublin came to Xewry and took 
possession of a house in the High Street, a close and 
narrow one in the heart of the town, and having for 
their neighbours a Unitarian chapel on one side, and 
an Orange Lodge on the other. The little band of 
defenceless and innocent women were housed, and 
their chapel arranged in one of the front rooms of the 
house. They were not suffered long to remain in 
peace. The Orangemen assembled outside the con¬ 
vent, broke every pane of glass in the front of the 
convent, then threw into the house a quantity of 
stones, and tried their best to break down the iron 
grating which guarded the door; in this latter attempt 
they did not succeed. Then one more unmanly than the 
rest fired into a cell window, and the ball passed close 
to the head of the nun who occupied it, grazing her 
cheek. As the chapel windows were completely de¬ 
stroyed, the nuns were anxious to remove the Blessed 


1-26 


IRISH HOMES AND 


Sacrament into the back of the house, but for some 
time it was impossible to get a priest into the house, 
and when one did come on the following day he had 
to creep in disguised. During the whole of this 
outrage, which far exceeds anything which the Fe¬ 
nians have done in the late rising, and which took 
place less than forty years ago, the police never once 
interfered, not a hand was put forth by the guardians 
of the law to defend a community of educated, refined, 
and Christian women from injury, insult, and danger 
of life. For many months the windows remained un¬ 
repaired, and the community lived in the rear of the 
house, fearing further attacks. 

The grounds of St. Clare Convent are very ex¬ 
tensive, and a sharp hill rises at the end of them, 
which has been well planted and laid out with trees 
and flowers, and from thence there is a lovely view of 
the town outspread like a map, the river, and the 
mountains. There, on more than one bright summer’s 
morning, I sat gazing on the fair landscape, and 
listening to one who, undeterred by stones and missiles, 
came in the bloom of early youth to link her fate with 
the nuns of St. Clare ; and who now, in the evening of 
a life thus spent in devotion to God and His poor, 
can look back, and witness to the wonderful changes 
wrought in the position of the Catholic religion even 
in a part of the country where it naturally could least 
expect to flourish. The proper place for the nuns’ 
cemetery would have been at the summit of the hill; 
but so great was the virulence of the Orange party that 
even the graves of the dead would not have been safe in 
a spot to which easy access over the walls at night could 


IRISH HEARTS. 


127 


have been obtained, and the dead were therefore buried 
in a vault scooped out of the middle of the hill. But 
now they might safely rest in the open ground, and no 
angry strife would be waged over their resting-place. 
The Unitarian chapel has long since been closed, and its 
buildings thrown into the convent; the Orange lodge 
has been razed to the ground, and on the site are rising 
up the walls of fine large poor schools in the place of 
former ones too small and ill-ventilated, in which the 
nuns have for many years instructed poor children. 
The nuns of this order are enclosed, and no secular 
can visit any part of the convent, except the chapel 
and grounds, without the bishop’s permission. This 
being, however, obtained, I went over all the con¬ 
vent, the refectory, kitchen, and dairy ; the bright- 
looking community room with piano, pictures, and 
books ; the library with well-filled shelves; the long 
rows of cells: all was very simple and poor; there 
were none of the beauty and ornament which is so 
fittingly introduced into conventual buildings. The ad¬ 
verse times through which the community passed have 
prevented all this; but there is a peculiar charm 
attached to the dwelling-place of those who have 
bravely fought and gained great and important bat¬ 
tles, and this has been essentially the case of the 
nuns of St. Clare at Newry. A large number of poor 
children attend their schools, and for many years 
they were the only Catholic girls’ schools in Newry. 
The chapel is open to the public, the choir of the 
religious being separated from the rest of the church 
by a grille . The entire relics of one of the martyrs of 
the Roman catacombs was recently presented to this 


128 


IRISH HOMES AIs T D 


convent, enclosed, as is the custom in Rome, in a wax 
facsimile of the Saint richly dressed. It is the object 
of great admiration and respect to the poor, many of 
whom come long distances to visit it, and the chapel 
is hardly ever empty. So successful has the mission 
of the Sisters of St. Clare proved in Newry, that it 
was thought advisable that another religious order, 
and one whose members were able to visit the poor, 
should be brought in; and in 1855 a foundation of 
Sisters of Mercy was sent from the convent at Ivinsale, 
and a house taken for the nuns on the opposite side of 
the town to that on which St. Clare’s convent stands. 

In course of time, a large and very fine convent was 
built almost facing the f Model Schools,’ a pretty 
Gothic building. The convent is in the Italian style, 
one which, though not so pleasing to the eye, is 
generally found to be more adapted for conventual 
purposes. The chapel, though only a large room, is 
very devotional and pretty; a fine painting by Carlo 
Dolce ,‘ Our Lord showing His Wounds to St. Thomas,’ 
hangs upon the wall, and several other paintings are 
very good. A large garden divides the convent from 
the House of Mercy and poor schools ; attached to the 
former is an Industrial School on a large scale, and 
which has so high a reputation for the excellence of 
its work that orders come from all parts, even the 
colonies, and the girls are therefore kept in constant 
employment. The specimens I was shown were wonder¬ 
fully fine work. The Sisters have a great deal to do 
on Sundav, having several confraternities to manage. 
These consist of girls of different classes, and also 
women, a sort of 4 mothers’ meeting.’ They meet in 


IRISH HEARTS. 


129 


the different schoolrooms, and are each superintended 
by a Sister. On entering one of these rooms, where 
a class of rough looking girls was assembled, the 
sound of weeping reached our ears, and several of the 
pupils were seen to be f drowned in tears.’ The 
cause of the grief turned out to be the approaching 
departure of some of the Sisters who had been in¬ 
structing them, and who were going the next day to 
make a foundation of their order in Lurgan, a town 
about twenty miles off. Many of the girls who attend 
these classes are from the factories, and these Sunday 
associations tend to keep up an esprit de corps among 
them. Their conduct, their piety, and zeal would put to 
shame many who have leisure, and every opportunity 
of serving God. Out of their scanty wages they put 
aside money to be spent in helping those who are 
poorer than themselves. 

The Sisters have a branch house at Rostrevor, about 
seven miles from Newry, and two from Warrenpoint. 
This lovely little spot has been often described by tra¬ 
vellers in Ireland. It is, I think, one of the loveliest 
sea-side places that can exist; it stands in the midst of 
rich woods, with mountains rising on all sides, and the 
beautiful bay of Carlingford lying at its foot. As yet it 
is unspoiled by tourists; for though it has its f season,’ 
the accommodation is not large, and the place is so 
quiet that none but real lovers of scenery would care 
to spend much time in it. There is a handsome Pro¬ 
testant church in the centre of the town, and a little 
farther on a Catholic one, which is in its way a little 
gem, both exteriorly and interiorly. Adjoining it is 
a small convent with two large schoolrooms, built in 

K 


130 


IRISH HOMES AND 


the same style as the church, and the two together 
form a striking object from the road, framed as they 
are in a landscape of such extreme loveliness: when I 
visited the spot the convent was yet unfinished, but 
the Sisters had been there more than a year, and were 
lodged in a house or rather large cottage opposite the 
church, and formerly the residence of the parish priest. 
Everything here was on a very small scale, the chapel 
being of the tiniest description, and the school being held 
in a cow house, and one which from its size and ventila¬ 
tion was not at all good enough even for cows. Yet in 
this wretched place, filled with dirty ragged children, 
often coming in dropping with wet, in this stifling atmo¬ 
sphere the Sisters of Mercy have gone on patiently 
doing their duty. The visitation of the poor in these 
country villages often entails a great deal of fatigue, 
as the Sisters have to traverse long distances and rough 
roads, and to encounter all kinds of weather. At¬ 
tached to the Sisters’ house are a nice garden and 
several fields, from which lovely views may be obtained 
of the bay and the opposite shore. The work at Ros- 
trevor is overshadowed and made more difficult by the 
existence of souperism in an aggravated form within 
its borders. Every effort is made by a certain number 
of people to draw away the poor from their faith by 
giving them food, clothing, and other rewards; and to 
cope with this renders the work of the Sisters cruelly 
hard. A lady of this class once made her way, not 
without great apprehension as to her safety, into the little 
convent. She was courteously received by the Sister 
in charge. She asked her if she had ever heard of the 
Redeemer, or knew that such a book as the Bible 


IRISH HEARTS. 


131 


existed. The Sister begged her visitor’s pardon for 
laughing heartily at the questions. 4 1 have read of 
such things in books, madam,’ she said, 4 but could not 
have believed that any educated person could really 
have believed us ignorant of that knowledge which is 
the foundation of our faith.’ Against bigotry and gross 
ignorance such as this the Sisters have to light their 
way with the weapons of patience, gentleness, and for¬ 
bearance. 

The pleasant town of Carlow on the banks of the 
4 goodlie Barrow,’ and lying in the county called the 
4 garden of Erin,’ is easily reached by rail from Dublin. 
Its principal object of interest is the cathedral, which 
is so closely connected with the memory of the cele¬ 
brated Dr. Doyle, Bishop of Kildare, whose exertions 
for the cause of religion in Ireland are so well known. 
The cathedral is a very fine building, with a tower of 
one hundred and fifty-one feet in height; the west front 
is richly decorated. In the interior the very striking 
monument to the memory of Dr. Doyle, represent¬ 
ing the Bishop reclining in sleep with Ireland kneeling 
by his side, is one of Hogan’s best executions. Close 
by the cathedral is a pleasant park, well planted with 
trees, and overlooking the river Barrow as it rolls along. 
In this park stands St. Patrick’s College consisting of 
a centre and two wings. Both ecclesiastical and lay 
students are educated here; and the library and the 
chapel are both well worth seeing. 

There is a large Presentation convent at Carlow, 
with flourishing poor schools. The Sisters of Mercy 
have also a convent here, and it boasts of being the 
third foundation made by Katherine McAuley in her 


132 


IRISH HOMES AND 


lifetime. Mrs. McAuley went to Carlow April 10, 
1837, where a temporary abode had been taken 
by the Bishop for the Sisters. As the Presentation 
nuns had already the charge of the poor schools, the 
Bishop begged Mrs. McAuley to allow her Sisters to 
take charge of middle schools, and to this she consented. 
In due course of time a convent with its House of 
Mercy was built. It is a pretty ‘ home-like ’ looking 
convent, surrounded on all sides by a large, well-planted 
garden, and shut in by high walls from the road. 
The middle schools are exceedingly well managed, and 
the children were particularly intelligent and well 
taught, and had good manners, a point of no little 
importance with a class of children naturally inclined 
to c airs.’ Middle schools, well managed, are certainly 
a great want of the present day, and to provide them 
is a great charity. We are all of us as particular about 
our castes as any Indians that ever lived, and no one 
can expect that a small tradesman or farmer will send 
his children to the same school with the bare-footed 
little ones of the peasant. And the children of this 
class, removed from the rough simplicity of the poor, a 
little inflated with comfort, a little set up above their 
neighbours, run a terrible risk of serious evil. But 
when girls of this class are well educated, as those at 
Carlow assuredly are, they grow up steady, sensible 
women, with immense power of doing good to their own 
families and to others, in their hands. 

The Sisters of Carlow have also a school for little 
boys, which is situated at some distance from the con¬ 
vent, unfortunately for the Sisters who have to go there 
in all weathers, and unfortunately for me, too, since I 


IRISH HEARTS. 


133 


had to wait some time ere a beaming face, whose sunshine 
even the trials of life in Eastern hospitals could never 
overshadow, returned from it to welcome me to her 
convent home ; and, moreover, was unable to visit this 
school, as I should have liked to have done. The Sisters 
have a large number of poor and sick people to visit; 
the House of Mercy adjoining the convent was full of 
inmates; the building is well adapted for the purpose, 
and all seemed to be in perfect order. I much wished 
I could have stayed longer at Carlow, have visited the 
old castle, and rambled over some of the surrounding 
country, which looks so tempting when viewed from 
the town; but the exigencies of a return ticket and 
press of time obliged me to hurry back to Dublin. 

I was unlucky enough to enter the fine old city of 
Limerick the day before the annual races, when the 
streets were thronged by a motley crowd, and there 
was no slight difficulty in getting accommodation. A 
kind friend came some distance to meet me for fear I 
should miss seeing any of the c lions.’ So we saw the 
huge stone on which the treaty, so soon to be broken, 
is said to have been signed. We stood on the bridge 
of the Shannon, the ‘ king of island rivers,’ as it lay 
rippling in the sunlight, and I tried to fancy the boat 
with the dying monk : 

Through the low hanks where Shannon meets the sea, 

Up the broad waters of the river king, 

(Then populous with a nation) journeyed he, 

Through that old Ireland which her poets sing: 

And the white vessel, breasting up the stream, 

Moved slowly like a ship within a dream. 

I suppose almost everyone knows the story of the 
Italian monk who cast the bells for his own monastery 


134 


IRISH HOMES AND 


in Italy, from whence he and his brethren were driven 
by some invading army ; and how, long years after¬ 
wards, when sent on an embassy to Ireland, he heard 
the sound of the bells he had so loved from the towers 
of Limerick cathedral: 

The white-sailed boat moved slowly up the stream ; 

The old man lay with folded hands at rest; 

The Shannon glistened in the sunlit beam ; 

The bells rang gently o’er its shining breast, 

Shaking out music from each lilied rim, 

It was a requiem which they rang for him.* 

The cathedral when reached is disappointing, being 
heavy and gloomy looking. I was disappointed also 
with the new Catholic cathedral, which, though a fine 
building, is cold and uninteresting. On the outskirts 
of the town is a very handsome church belonging to 
the Redemptorists, and a pretty little one near the 
railway station is that of the Dominicans. 

In the good old times a Dominican priory had ex¬ 
isted in Limerick, but its inmates had been driven 
away, and their convent had fallen into a picturesque 
ruin. Within the enclosure which surrounded this con¬ 
vent a house had been built, and when Mrs. McAuley 
was induced, in 1838, to make a foundation of her order 
in Limerick, this house was given to the Sisters. She 
thus describes it in one of her letters : c There is a 
very nice old convent enclosed by the walls of an 
abbey—a beautiful ruin. There is a most -simple, 
beautiful tomb just opposite to the cell I occupy; a 
holy abbess and a lay sister are deposited there—a 
very large weeping willow hanging over the grave. 

* Bessie Rayner Parkes. 



IRISH HEARTS. 


135 


It looks delightful and excites me to meditation of the 
most consoling kind.’ This convent was situated in a 
very wretched part of the town, but that the Sisters 
cared little about, and were only glad to he among the 
poor. The work increased so rapidly that a large addi¬ 
tion to the original convent, together with a House of 
Mercy and poor schools had to be made. Even these 
latter seemed to me insufficient for the number of chil¬ 
dren who flock to them. I thought the infant school 
was overcrowded ; but the education and management 
of the children were apparently very good. Besides the 
schools attached to the convent, the Sisters have four 
others in different parts of the city, and altogether 
more than 3,000 children are instructed by the Sis¬ 
ters of Mercy in Limerick. There are two branch 
houses belonging to this convent in Limerick: the 
first is St. Vincent’s Orphanage, a fine large build¬ 
ing in the Gothic style, built a little way out of the 
town. It is on the same plan as the other orphanages 
that I have mentioned, and was filled by a crowd of 
clean, healthy, contented-looking children. An alms¬ 
house for old widows is also connected with this 
branch house ; and the chapel, and indeed the whole 
pile of buildings, is exceedingly pretty. This house 
receives 130 orphans and 16 widows. The most inte¬ 
resting institution in Limerick, and one of the most 
remarkable I think in all Ireland, is the second branch 
house of the Sisters of Mercy at the workhouse 
infirmary. The workhouse is built in an excellent 
situation, about half a mile out of the town. In the 
year 1856, the guardians took the enlightened step of 
asking the Sisters of Mercy to undertake the charge of 


136 


IRISH HOMES AND 


the infirmary, and they readily responded to the call. 
A workhouse infirmary, though under the same roof, 
is always a distinct department from the rest of the 
workhouse, and with the infirmary only the Sisters 
have to do. There are various wards for both men 
and women, and nearly 1,000 patients can be received. 
A workhouse infirmary is a familiar spot to me. I have 
visited one often, and certainly I never left one without 
a sad heart, after having witnessed the discomfort, 
dirt, and neglect (to use the mildest words), in which the 
patients were left. But in the Limerick infirmary a 
changed scene met my eye—floors clean and fresh, beds 
with spotless linen and white coverings; the medicines, 
books, and little comforts the patients require close at 
their side ; the Sisters of Mercy with pleasant faces and 
kind words moving about in lieu of the f pauper nurses ; ’ 
an indescribable air of comfort and repose in the whole 
place. W ar dm aids and wardsmen assist the Sisters in 
the rough work of the infirmary, but their vigilant care 
superintends all; they see that their patients are pro¬ 
perly fed, that the doctor’s orders are carried out, that 
they are treated as the poor in a Christian land should 
be treated, and not as in other workhouses, far worse 
than a pack of valuable dogs would be. And then the 
Sisters care for the souls of their patients and try to 
turn the time of their illness to good account. 

It must always be borne in mind that the class 
of poor who enter an infirmary is very different 
from those who come into an hospital; the latter are 
the respectable labouring poor, servants, &c., and 
often the lower middle classes who are reduced in 
circumstances; the former are the pauper class, the 


IRISH HEARTS. 


137 


lowest, most wretched, most ignorant, most neglected 
of the population, and therefore most needing instruc¬ 
tion and elevating influences. Among this class of 
sufferers the Sisters of Mercy in Limerick go about 
consoling, teaching, and helping. They bring back for¬ 
gotten truths to the minds of some; they teach others 
sublime lessons which they have never before heard; 
they lead the sinner to repentance, they soften the 
hardened, deadened heart; and God’s special benedic¬ 
tion rests on them as they pursue their course ; for not 
only are they doing a great work, but they have won a 
great victory for their country, they have broken down 
a tremendous barrier, have gained the outposts of the 
great barren desolate field of workhouse poor, neg¬ 
lected and oppressed. Their example has been already 
followed in three or four other towns ; and may we not 
hope that the time will come when the workhouses of 
Ireland shall be in their hands ? The Sisters took me 
into two small wards equally as good as the others, 
and rather more comfortable on account of their size; 
these were the f Protestant wards.’ One, I think, had 
four, the other six, inmates, while the whole number of 
patients at that moment was over 600. So careful 
are the guardians that the feelings and consciences of 
the Protestants shall not be interfered with by their 
Catholic fellow-patients, that this arrangement has 
been resorted to. Here the Protestant clergyman can 
visit them, hold services, &c., whenever he pleases. 
And this is done in Ireland to a minority of ten 
among 600, and I thought of certain English work- 
houses, where the Catholic poor are counted by hun¬ 
dreds, yet where their feelings and their consciences 


138 


IRISH HOMES AND 


are utterly ignored; where a priest can only enter 
when he is sent for to an especial case, and may not 
speak to any other Catholic in the ward ; where Ca¬ 
tholic visitors are allowed no entrance, and Catholic 
books are confiscated; where no provision is made for 
the administration of Catholic services; and I asked 
myself where was the boasted justice of Englishmen, 
and when would this disgrace be wiped off from our 
country. The expenditure of the Limerick infirmary, 
under the neAv management, does not exceed that of 
the preceeding, although the comfort of the patients has 
been greatly increased. The reason for this is very 
obvious, as the recent disclosures respecting London 
workhouses will abundantly demonstrate. The com¬ 
forts that should have gone to the patients went to 
the nurses, and the process is now reversed. The 
Sisters practise the most careful economy in all de¬ 
tails, and waste of all kinds is rigidly prevented. If 
there be ever any apparent increase of expense in this 
infirmary, it arises from the fact that more poor 
consent to enter it since the Sisters have been in 
charge. Some, perhaps, will cavil at this, but surely 
every poor man has a right to relief and comfort in 
the hour of sickness; the infirmary at least of a poor- 
house should be made such as he will not shrink 
from entering. As it is now rather a fashion to abuse 
workhouse guardians, a tribute should be given to 
the wisdom and humanity of the Limerick Board in 
having had the courage to break through existing 
customs and make these excellent changes. 

They must, I am sure, be rewarded in seeing their 
infirmary a model one in Ireland, and knowing that 


IRISH HEARTS. 


139 


they have pioneered the way for others to follow, in 
bringing about a reform which must work an immense 
good in the country. 

I visited the convent of the Good Shepherd in 
Limerick, which is a foundation from the well-known 
house of this order in London. The Sisters have an 
asylum for penitents under their care and also a 
Government reformatory for children. The asylum 
was begun many years ago in Limerick by a lady, 
who, unable from pressing family duties to enter a 
convent in her youth as she wished, devoted herself 
to good works, and especially to the raising up the 
fallen of her own sex. The asylum for penitents 
prospered under her care, and many souls were res¬ 
cued. When middle life had come, and those of her 
relations whom she had brought up had gone to give 
themselves to God’s service, she resigned her work for 
penitents into the hands of the Sisters of the Good 
Shepherd, and went to serve her novitiate as a Sister of 
Mercy under a superioress whose childhood and youth 
she herself had trained; and when her vows were made, 
and, as old age was creeping on, it would have seemed 
time to rest in her loved community, she gave up her 
native land, and those who were dearest to her heart, 
and set out on a long and arduous journey to a distant 
shore to found a convent of her order. There she now 
rests from her labours, far away from her own green 
Ireland, one of those heroic souls of whom the world 
knows nothing, who neither sought nor cared for fame, 
but for whom is reserved an exceeding great reward. 

The Convent of the Good Shepherd is a large 
and handsome one ; the asylum can receive more than 


140 


IRISH HOMES AND 


seventy penitents ; the management seemed to be the 
same as that in High Park; the women are employed 
chiefly in washing, and there are magnificent laundries. 
The penitents here are not expected or urged to remain 
for life and the greater part do not, but some who 
desire to remain can do so. Among these were a few 
who had entered the asylum when it was under the 
management of the lady I have spoken of; and when 
her name was mentioned they blessed it with deep 
gratitude. 

The faces of the reformatory children here were a 
great contrast to those in Dublin ; I could have fancied 
myself in an ordinary school, and on entering their room 
we were received with the same pleasure and interest 
that the arrival of visitors generally excites among 
ordinary children. It was a great comfort to hear the 
nuns say that they were not at all bad children, but 
had been generally committed for some very slight 
offence, and had been led into that principally by 
poverty and neglect. The Sisters had good hopes of 
sending them out thoroughly improved by their deten¬ 
tion. 

There is a convent of the Presentation order in 
Limerick, with schools for 500 children ; and at Laurel 
Hill, near the city, a convent of c Faithful Com¬ 
panions of Jesus,’ a French order for the education of 
the upper classes. 


IRISH HEARTS. 


141 


CHAPTER IX. 

Xot withstanding all I had heard of the beauty of 
Cork, it quite surpassed my expectations. The weather 
was perfect—a ‘ St. Luke’s summer;’ and from the kind 
and hospitable c Irish Home ’ in which I was living, at 
the summit of one of the heights which surround Cork, 
we saw the grey autumn mist hanging over the city 
gradually disperse before the sun, and the river, the 
churches, the steeple of f Shandon,’ and the quaint pic¬ 
turesque houses lie glittering in its rays. 

The surrounding scenery of Cork has been often 
described in better words than I could hope to use. 
The river Lee, with its rich variety of landscape, lies 
outspread before the spectator’s delighted gaze as 
the train or the steamer transports him from Cork to 
the Cove. A line of railroad runs on each side of the 
river, with stations at the various pretty villages which 
ornament the banks of the Lee. 

The Ursuline Convent, at Blackrock, is a large and 
handsome building, and forms a conspicuous object in 
the landscape. It was founded by the Ursuline Nuns 
who came from France in 1771, and is one of the chief 
places of education in Ireland. The river joins the 
sea at Queenstown, or the Cove of Cork; its magni¬ 
ficent harbour and the view from the heights, of sea 
and land, with islands dotted here and there, the wind- 


142 


IEISH HOMES AND 


ing river, and the shipping, are exceedingly beautiful; 
and then there are the f Groves of Blarney,’ with the 
stone which so few have courage to kiss, great as the 
promised result may be; and the castle c once strong 
and aincient,’ as the song declares, but now— 

Sure you’re nothing at all but a stone 

Wrapt in ivy. 

Bad luck to that robber, ould Crommill, 

That plundered our beautiful fort. 

My first visit to Cork took place immediately after 
the erection of the statue to Father Mathew, at the top 
of Patrick Street, immediately facing the bridge, and 
the town had hardly recovered from the excitement 
consequent on the fetes of the occasion. There, in the 
midst of the city in which he was born, in which so 
much of his great work was wrought, stands the image 
of the man whom his country can never forget—the 
simple, self-denying, warm-hearted Irish priest, whose 
one thought in life was to rescue his countrymen from 
the dread curse of their existence. I went to the 
church in which he used to minister, but there was 
nothing of any note to be recorded of it; then to the 
cemetery which he laid out and arranged, and in the 
centre of which he now lies. It is at some little distance 
from the town, and might with ordinary care and pains 
be as beautiful a cemetery as that of Glasnevin ; but 
it had, when I saw it, fallen into a terrible state of 
neglect. The only tomb apparently properly looked 
after was that of Father Mathew himself. It consists 
of a broad slab of granite laid upon the ground, a cross 
in the centre, and an iron railing surrounding it. There 
is hardly an hour in the day when a f pilgrim ’ may not 



IRISH HEARTS. 


143 


be found kneeling by the grave of him whom many 
reverence as a saint. But the rest of the cemetery 
was in sad confusion—trees and shrubs growing as if 
in a forest; while weeds, nettles, and long grass choked 
up the passage to and from the graves. Perhaps by 
this time matters may be all put straight, otherwise it 
would be a disgrace to the enlightened city of Cork. 

One of the great 4 lions ’ of Cork now is the Church 
of SS. Peter and Paul, worthy in beauty if not in size 
to be the cathedral of the diocese ; it is, however, only 
a parish church, but a very large sum indeed has been 
spent on its decorations. It is the work of Mr. W elby 
Pugin, son of the great architect of that name, and it 
is one of which the city has every reason to be proud. 
The elevation of the building, the roof and the apse, are 
most admirable, while pillars of different coloured mar¬ 
bles, and the richest carving in stone for the altars, 
delight the eye. 

It formed a great contrast to another church which I 
visited in Cork, and one of the oldest, strongly resem¬ 
bling a well-constructed but weather-beaten barn of 
enormous size, with great ugly galleries, and an altar 
raised on high steps so that it could be seen by all. This 
church fulfils the object for which it was built, that 
of containing as many people as possible. These two 
churches struck me as remarkable specimens of Ireland 
now and Ireland fifty years ago. Then space and a 
roof to shelter them, and an altar which they could see, 
and a floor to kneel on, was all the Irish hoped for, dared 
to expect. Faithfully and patiently through long years 
of trial they worshipped in these humble temples, 
while the cathedrals that their fathers built were 


144 


IRISH HOMES AND 


neglected and disused by those who could not value 
them. Now the time has come when once more the 
beauty of architecture, marble, and gold, and gems can 
be brought into the service of the sanctuary, and 
buildings may rise up to vie with those which sprung 
from the love and devotion of olden days. Connected 
with the ‘ barn-like 1 church, I heard of a confraternity 
which interested me greatly. It was for young girls 
from the time at which they make their first com¬ 
munion till they are twenty-one, and thus it lays hold 
of the girls who have left school, a class which, at the 
present day, is not nearly so much attended to as it 
ought to be. These girls meet at the church at two 
o’clock every Sunday afternoon, are divided into classes, 
and receive instruction, or rather keep up the instruc¬ 
tion of their school days. The priest in charge of this 
association, a specimen of those devoted self-sacrificing 
men of whom the Irish priesthood can furnish so many 
examples, gives them a short address, and there is, I 
think, some singing. All simple enough, but tending 
to sustain a bond of union and keep holy lessons alive 
in their hearts. All the members are bound to so to 
the sacraments once a month, and a high tone of con¬ 
duct is kept up amongst them. Serious offenders are 
punished by expulsion, which is looked upon as a ter¬ 
rible disgrace. f And what do you do with those who 
misbehave,’ said I, f because there must be some ?’— f If 
possible,’ was the answer, c I try to persuade them to go 
to England.’ The reply smote upon my heart, for I 
knew well how many of the Irish girls in England who 
are so hard to manage, so difficult to reclaim, were those 
who, in their own country, had began by being a little 


IRISH HEARTS. 


:45 


'wild, and having taken the first downward step, and 
rubbed off the bloom of their youthful innocence, 
when thrown into the whirl of one of our great wicked 
cities hurry onwards with rapid pace to ruin. There 
is some difficulty in getting teachers for this confrater¬ 
nity. Many ladies do not like to give up the best part 
of a Sunday afternoon for a work requiring patience 
and skill; besides which, the teacher’s duty binds her 
to look after her pupils in the week, to see why the 
absentees did not make their appearance, and to visit 
those who are ill. A story was told me in connection 
with this association which would not form a bad plot 
for a novel, and was certainly a little e romance in real 
life.’ A young girl once offered herself as teacher in 
the confraternity. She was poorly clad, and stated 
herself to be a seamstress ; but there was a grace about 
her appearance and manner which convinced the priest 
to whom she spoke that she was of gentle birth. It 
turned out to be the case; she and her sister were 
well born, but, losing father and mother in their in¬ 
fancy, were left, with their fortune of 20,000/., to the 
guardianship of an uncle. He sent them to be edu¬ 
cated at a convent in France, and there one sister 
died; and when the other, at the age of seventeen, 
returned to Cork, she found her uncle flown and her¬ 
self penniless. 

She went out as .a governess, but finding that mode 
of life intolerable, gave it up, and earned her bread 
by needlework. She was received as a teacher; the 
priest watched her narrowly, and was perfectly satis¬ 
fied with her conduct and patient industry. One day 
she came to tell him that one of her pupils w T as seriously 


146 


IRISH HOMES AND 


ill, and had no one but an old mother, almost too 
infirm to work, to nurse her; might she go and help 
her ? gave permission, and Ellen (as I will call 

her) nursed the young girl till she died. Then the 
poor mother wailed bitterly ; her last, her only one, 
was gone, and she was left alone to starve and die. 
She, too, had seen better days, but misfortune had come 
heavily on her, and her only son, a bright and clever 
lad, had chosen to go to California, telling his mother 
to be of good heart, for he would come back to her a 
rich man. But seventeen years had flown by, and 
not a word had come from him ; so he must have been 
dead long ago; and now her girl was gone, who used 
to help her with washing, and enable her to keep out 
of the dreaded union. Then Ellen bade her be com¬ 
forted, for she would fill a daughter’s place, live with 
her, and work for her till life should end. And in a 
Ruth-like spirit she toiled hard for the old woman’s 
support, watched tenderly over her, and hoped when 
that task should be fulfilled to become a nun. One 
day a letter came to the priest who directed the con¬ 
fraternity bearing a foreign postmark; it proved to 
be from the long-lost son of the old mother, who had 
truly enough become a rich man, and had acres of lands 
and flocks of sheep, whose letters home had all gone 
astray, who had thought his mother dead, but had 
heard of her from a former memjber of the confra¬ 
ternity, married in California, who told him he had 
a mother and sister in Cork. So Robert (as I will 
call him) wrote to the priest to beg him to break the 
news to his mother, to give her money from him, and 
to entreat her and his sister to take ship and come out 


IRISH HEARTS. 


147 


to him, where they would live in peace and plenty the 
rest of their days. When the old woman heard the 
news she fell down in a fainting tit, but on her reco¬ 
very expressed herself eager and willing to undertake 
the voyage, and see her only child again before she 
died, provided Ellen would take the place of the sister 
he expected, and accompany her on the voyage. And 
to this Ellen consented, intending, as soon as she 
should have delivered the old woman safe into her 
son’s keeping, to seek admission into the convent of the 
Sisters of Mercy at San Francisco, who were greatly 
in want of fresh sisters. So the pair set off, and 
arrived safely in California, where, as my readers will 
of course foresee, Robert fell instantly in love with 
Ellen, and besought her to be his 'wife. His position 
would have insured her every comfort that money 
could buy in California. But Ellen’s heart was too 
firmly anchored; to love the poor and to serve her 
Lord was her sole ambition, and steadfast to her word 
she speedily entered the convent. Already a true nun 
in heart she fulfilled her duties admirably. Soon after 
her profession she was sent into the hospital. An 
officer, mortally wounded, was brought in, and Ellen 
had to wait on him. He was a confirmed infidel, 
and was ready to die as he had lived, unbelieving and 
blaspheming ; but beside him Ellen prayed, and beside 
him she laboured. The conquest of this soul was 
given her, and he died penitent, blessing the name of 
Him whose love had so inspired the feeble words of 
a Sister of Mercy. 

The Christian Brothers have a large establishment 
in Cork, and I have purposely omitted mentioning the 


148 


IRISH HOMES AND 


schools of these Brothers in Dublin, because it was in 
Cork that I first became acquainted with them. The 
order of the Christian Brothers is a French one, and 
was founded by the Yen. J. B. de la Salle, towards the 
close of the seventeenth century. His rule and consti¬ 
tutions were adopted in 1817 by a small body of men 
in Ireland who, from the year 1802, had been devoting 
themselves to the care of poor schools, and living in 
community. From that time the order in Ireland has 
made rapid progress ; they have now seventy establish¬ 
ments in the country, and have about 30,000 children 
under their care. 

Our Lady’s Mount at Cork is a large house built 
on one of the hills that surround the city ; a wide lawn 
gradually slopes down it to the entrance gate, where 
stand the schools, and in a few minutes after passing 
them you find yourself among the poorest population 
of the city. The schools are very fine, space and air 
abound in them, perfect order and cleanliness prevail, 
and the manner of the boys is very good. There are 
eight class rooms in this school, the boys advancing by 
different gradations. There is a great mixture of 
ranks among the boys, a barefooted little fellow with 
scanty garments standing next to one evidently of a 
better grade ; indeed, the education given in these 
schools is of so excellent a character, that parents 
above the very poor are eager to procure it for their 
children. f The knowledge communicated in the schools 
embraces not only reading, writing, arithmetic, gram¬ 
mar, geography, and bookkeeping, but also an acquaint¬ 
ance with such branches of mathematical science as are 
suited to the taste and talents of the pupils, and to the 


IRISH HEARTS. 


149 


stations of life which they are destined to occupy. 
Geometry, mensuration, drawing, and mechanics, are 
special objects of attention.’ 

The occasion of the erection of Father Mathew’s 
statue brought to Cork several £ special correspondents ’ 
and reporters of the London papers. One of these 
gentlemen was persuaded to visit the Christian 
Brothers’ schools. He began by asking what books 
they used, and on being told £ our own,’ looked the 
scorn he was too polite to express. The books were 
given to him, and he was requested to examine the 
classes himself in his own way. Thus he gradually 
advanced through the school, becoming more and more 
surprised as he went on. £ Really this is astonishing,’ 
said he, to the friend who accompanied him, and at last 
on reaching the last class he relinquished his task as 
examiner, fairly confessing the boys were beyond him. 
He was then taken to the drawing school, the walls of 
which were huncr with framed drawings of various 

O O 

kinds. The visitor, imagining them to be selected for 
the boys to copy, said they were very good—some evi¬ 
dently were by a French artist—and it was with diffi¬ 
culty he could be made to believe that they were the 
productions of the boys. But when at last the fact had 
dawned upon him, and he realised what well-educated 
intelligent lads the Brothers could turn out, a brilliant 
idea seized him. ( What do you do with them here ? 
send them to London ; with such acquirements they 
could get excellent situations there.’ And then he was 
informed that even in the benighted city of Cork it 
was quite easy to place the boys in positions in which 
they can do well. So he departed a little wiser than 


150 


IRISH HOMES AND 


he came; but I never heard that the British public 
were ever informed of the result of his visit. 

In the chapel belonging to the Brothers the superior 
showed us a silver lamp for the altar, the present of 
one who had attended the schools a barefooted, ragged 
little urchin, and who was now a prosperous tradesman, 
never forgetting in the hour of his prosperity the kind 
teachers of his poverty-stricken childhood. He was 
by no means a solitary instance of the rewards the 
Brothers often meet amid their toil and discourage¬ 
ments. The Brothers’ house is spacious, and very simply 
furnished; the chapel is a very pretty one, and there 
is a library well stocked with books. By rule the 
Brothers are obliged to devote a certain time to study 
each day. 

This house possesses a peculiar interest, as having 
once possessed among its members the brilliant and 
talented Gerald Griffin. Here he died, of typhus 
fever, in June, 1840, and his body rests in the little 
burying-ground half-way down the garden, which 
divides the house from the schools; a small green plot 
of grass, with iron railings around, and large trees 
overhanging it, and a few graves marked with a head¬ 
stone and a cross in the centre. With varied and min¬ 
gled feelings we stood by the grave of one whose life, 
though brief, had contained so deep a lesson. Nothing, 
perhaps, can more clearly describe the true vocation 
of a Christian Brother than Gerald’s own letters, 
written from this very spot. To a friend in London 
he writes: 4 1 was ordered off here from Dublin last 
June, and have been since enlightening the craniums 
of the wondering paddies in this quarter, who learn 


IRISH HEARTS. 


151 


from me with profound amazement and profit that 
o, x, spells ox; that the top of a map is the north, and 
the bottom the south, with various other “ branches; ” 
as also that they ought to be good boys, and do as they 
are bid, and say their prayers every morning and 
evening, &c.; and yet it seems curious even to myself 
that I feel a great deal happier in the practice of this 
daily routine than I did while I was roving about your 
great city, absorbed in the modest project of rivalling 
Shakespeare, and throwing Scott into the shade.’ It 
is a curious task now to read the records of Gerald’s 
early life ; to see the young man of twenty, full of the 
ardour of youth and genius, struggling in the great 
arena of London life, thirsting for fame, and often not 
able to earn his daily bread ; how he went about from 
manager to actress and from actor to critic, burning- 
with eagerness to see a play of his performed on the 
boards of a London theatre. 4 The object of my life for 
many years,’ he calls it; and when a piece of his 
actually did appear he is thrown into c buoyant excite¬ 
ment of mind and heart.’ What a cup of bliss then 
would have been the furore about the f Colleen Bawn;’ 
but, happily for him, the fame he sought for did not 
come. He attained a certain amount of success, but 
was so wearied with the struggle that he turned 
away to a settled profession, and then his views 
changed; he began to think that fame, after all, was not 
worth the pursuit, and a few years after beheld him a 
Christian Brother, happy and radiant and full of peace, 
and eager only to devote his fine talents to the service 
of God. But it was not to be; the soul that seemed 
fitted to do so much in the future was not to linger 


152 


IRISH HOMES AND 


on the earth: his early presentiment was to be ful¬ 
filled. 

In the time of my boyhood I had a strange feeling 
That I was to die ere the noon of my day ; 

Not quietly into the silent grave stealing, 

But torn, like a blasted oak, sudden away. 

In his community life Gerald had been as much 
loved as he had been by the family and friends he 
had left. Even after the lapse of so many years, the 
superior of the house could not speak of him without 
deep emotion, and he had not yet ceased to mourn 
the loss of one so richly gifted, both by nature and 
grace. 

Besides the schools at Our Lady’s Mount, the 
Brothers have two others in different parts of Cork. 

Just opposite their gate is a convent of the Irish 
Sisters of Charity. They have large poor schools for 
girls, and also one for infant boys, and they are of 
great assistance to the Brothers in preparing the boys 
well before entering the boys’ school. 

Attached to this convent is a Magdalene Asylum, 
the finest of the kind I have ever seen. The plan of 
management is the same as that at Donnybrook, but 
the general arrangements of the house very far excel 
those of the latter. Each inmate has her own little 
cell, and this renders the house a very suitable one for 
women who were of a rather better position in life 
than those who generally fill such asylums. It greatly 
increases the difficulty of reclaiming persons of this 
kind, if they find they are to be in constant contact 
night and day with those who are naturally rough, 
coarse, and unfeeling. The first germs of their re- 


IRISH HEARTS. 


153 


pentance are often weak, and they frequently give up 
the struggle in despair, and run back to evil courses. 
In the Cork asylum, as elsewhere, the penitents have 
to work for their own support. There is a large 
workroom, and magnificent laundries. We were much 
struck by the quiet manner and modest demeanour of 
many of the women, giving evidence of the improve¬ 
ment which had been wrought in their characters. 

The convent of Sisters of Mercy in Cork bears the 
poetical name of St. Marie’s of the Isle; it is built on a 
piece of ground called the Island, and formerly the site 
of a Dominican abbey. This convent is the fifth 
foundation made by Mrs. McAuley, and is one of 
the most flourishing of the order. It is built in the 
Gothic style, of brown stone, with bright coloured 
limestone quoins, windows, and door-ways, and is a 
beautiful and picturesque building. The interior is 
equally good, and altogether it is a worthy successor 
of the convents of bygone days. The whole expense 
of its erection was borne by the people of Cork, 
and it is certainly a great ornament to the city. Ad¬ 
joining it are large poor schools, an orphanage, and a 
large House of Mercy. There is a numerous com¬ 
munity, and all their works seemed to be in a flourish¬ 
ing; condition. There are several branch houses belong;- 
ing to this community, one of which has charge of a 
hospital, which we visited. A large house has been 
devoted to the purpose, and the hospital is managed 
on the same plan as that in Jervis Street, Dublin. 
The size of the house does not admit of good accom¬ 
modation being given to the Sisters; but this they 
accept and make light of with their usual cheerfulness. 


154 


IRISH HOMES AND 


A little way out of Cork, at Sunday’s Well, is a 
lovely little church, belonging to the Vincentian 
Fathers. The interior is remarkably graceful, and it 
is the work of Mr. George Goldie. 

An institution in Cork interested me very deeply. 
It was situated in Mary Street, and was a home, or 
rather a training school, for workhouse girls. A certain 
number of ladies in Cork visit the workhouse regu¬ 
larly, and, in common with all other workhouse visitors, 
were grieved to the heart at the state of workhouse 
sfirls. Indeed the condition of these girls in all the 
unions where the system of district schools does not 
exist is perfectly appalling, and it is extraordinary that 
no steps to remedy such a state of things have been 
taken. A number of orphans and deserted children 
are always found in the workhouse school; when they 
become old enough to go out to service, they are sent 
to it; but, as a rule, they never stay. They do not 
want to stay; the restraints of service are very irksome, 
they like the workhouse, and back they come, not back 
to the schools, which are, I believe, in Cork very well 
managed, and where only a certain amount of evil can 
be learnt; but they return to the adult wards to 
mix with women of all ages, of all classes; to hear 
language, to learn evil, which we cannot even contem¬ 
plate. Here the habits of idleness strengthen; they 
dawdle through their little task of work, with no care 
for the future, no incentive to exertion ; the worst 
passions of their nature are allowed to grow up un¬ 
checked, and if they ever do leave the workhouse, it is 
certainly to swell the criminal class of the country, or else 
they are sent out to the colonies in emigrant ships, with 


IRISH HEARTS. 


155 


the worst possible results. To take the lowest ground, 
they are from first to last an enormous expense to the 
union. Yet such is the immovability of workhouse 
guardians, that the excellent efforts of the Cork ladies 
were only supported by a portion among them, and 
seem in great danger of being shipwrecked by the 
senseless opposition of the rest. 

Two years ago it was determined to try the ex¬ 
periment of training workhouse girls for service, and 
after an infinity of trouble the guardians consented. 
They took a house in Mary Street, in a very dilapidated 
state, so that a large sum had to be spent on repairs. It 
was plainly furnished, a matron engaged, and girls drafted 
in; but every possible obstacle that can be imagined 
stood in the way of its success. The girls hated to be 
taught, and had brought with them the bad habits en¬ 
gendered by workhouse training, inveterate idleness, 
and a tendency to cunning and deceit. A very short 
time only was allowed for training them, and the girls 
always felt that if they chose to go back to the work- 
house they had only to turn restive and the thing was 
accomplished. Many of these girls had been trained 
from infancy in the workhouse, some even born there ; 
they knew no other home, cared for no other life, for it 
is the remarkable characteristic of workhouse girls that 
they have no ambition to rise; then there were the 
guardians wanting to see the results of the plan, fearing 
the expenses; good people shrugging their shoulders 
and prophesying the work would be a failure. Not¬ 
withstanding all this, the ladies and their matron 
worked on; in these two years seventy-seven girls 
passed through the house; forty of these are doing 


]ofi 


IRISH HOMES AND 


well in situations, nineteen were failures, nine had not 
sufficient health for service, and nine were in the house 
when it closed. For it is closed, and the good work 
stopped. The immediate cause of its closing was the 
ruinous state of the house, from which it became 
absolutely necessary to move, while there was dif¬ 
ficulty in finding another. While the matter was 
pending, some of the guardians strongly opposed the 
reopening of the home, asserting that the good done 
by it did not compensate for the expense to the 
ratepayers. The financial state of the home was as 
follows:—Entire cost of home, 730/. 10s. 2d .; value 
of clothing on hand, 48/. ; clothing in store at the 
workhouse for use of home, and charged to its account 
but never drawn, 74/. 17s. 3 d. ; cost of utensils, 47/. 
17s.; bedding, 31/. 14s. 6c/.; furniture, 31/. 11s. 5d. 
All the above articles were available for use, and should 
therefore be deducted from the 730/. 10s. The repairs 
of the house were 90/. ; therefore the actual expenses 
of the home for two years were 406/. 10s., and for this 
sum the result has been obtained that forty girls have 
been taken from the pauper class, and are earning their 
bread respectably. It is quite certain that if they 
remained in the workhouse all their lives they would 
have cost a great deal more than 400/., and even if this 
were not the case, is not such a change as regards these 
unhappy children worth some expense. To deny them 
the opportunities which it is now certain that they are 
ready to avail themselves of, is surely worse than the 
slave trade. It is difficult to believe that the Cork guar- 
dians can persevere in their opposition; we trust soon 
to hear that the home is reopened and in a flourishing 


IRISH HEARTS. 


157 


condition. I was much struck when I visited the house 
with the excellent good sense with which it was ma¬ 
naged. For instance, the matron’s bedroom was fitted 
up simply but nicely, as a lady’s would be, in order 
to teach the girls how to set a bedroom in order. Her 
meals were served with the same care, and the girls 
taught to wait on her. The ladies of the committee 
would sometimes order their luncheon to be prepared 
at the home in order to teach the girls how to wait, and 
how to use the common articles of civilised life. These 
things may seem too trifling to repeat, but they would 
not appear so to those who understand what a work- 
house girl is, and how completely the ladies have had 
to train young barbarians. ‘ Their entire surroundings 
in the workhouse are different from those of everyday 
life, their daily routine there in no way fits them for 
life outside, and a girl of fourteen or fifteen years of 
age, reared in the workhouse, is as unlearned in the 
experience of life as a child of five years old in the 
general population. It is only when a girl leaves the 
workhouse that she learns the use of such simple do¬ 
mestic implements as a knife and fork, or knows prac¬ 
tically, at the cost of her mistress’s temper and pocket, 
that an earthen bowl is more brittle than a tin por¬ 
ringer. Children in the workhouse never, or very 
rarely, see the commonest articles used in a kitchen. 
As to the way of setting out, or the appendages of the 
simplest table, they are mysteries to them. Beef, 
mutton, poultry, fish, &c., were all things they read of 
or saw in pictures; but, if all were placed before them, 
it would be very problematical if they could distinguish 
one from the other. Soup or porridge they could 


158 


IRISH HOMES AND 


understand—it was their daily food—but if they were 
starving, and given the materials to make it, they 
could not do so.’* 

The ladies feel certain that if they had a large house, 
and were able to take in a greater number of girls, the 
expenses would be in comparison lessened, and the re¬ 
sults equally satisfactory. c The expense individually 
would be less than the dreadful experiment of emigra¬ 
tion, and the guardians would have the consciousness 
of knowing that, as Christian gentlemen, they had 
helped the poor females under their care (many of 
whom are orphans) to make themselves respectable 
and useful members of society at home, instead of 
paying thousands of pounds to send them out to certain 
destruction.’ It is very satisfactory, but not surprising, 
to find that the girls placed out in service come to the 
matron or the ladies for advice and help. Surely it is 
not possible that such a work as this, in the heart of 
generous Ireland, will be suffered to perish. 

There are two Presentation Convents in Cork, one 
of which is that built by Miss Nagle, whose grave is 
to be seen within its enclosure. 

The picturesque town of Kinsale is comparatively 
little known to tourists, lying as it does out of the 
beaten track. Did such a lovely sea-side place happen 
to lie on the English coast it would long since have been 
overrun by visitors, and much of its beauty destroyed. 
Stucco villas and a grand f parade ’ would have broken 
in upon the calm and repose that now hang over the 
little town, full of memories of the past. Irish chief- 


* Report of the Mary Street Home. 


IRISH HEARTS. 


159 


tains, and Spanish invaders, and Parliamentary soldiers 
have each in their turn held Kinsale in their power, and 
stirring; deeds have been wrought within its walls. Now 
it is quiet and deserted—the quaint old houses rising in 
tiers on the side of a hill, while a river slowly wends 
its way towards the little bay. A promontory, once occu¬ 
pied by a fort, now in ruins, juts out into the harbour. 
Charles Fort is on the opposite side, and beyond is the 
broad Atlantic and the e Old Head,’ looked out for as 
eagerly by the Irishman returning from America as 
the Land’s End or Needles are by English eyes. Kin- 
sale abounds in pretty walks, and there are many points 
on the different hills in the vicinity of the town from 
which beautiful views of the forts, bay, Bandon river, 
and surrounding country can be gained. I was living 
in one of the pretty country houses in the neighbour¬ 
hood, a true and pleasant ‘ Irish home,’ with a lovely 
garden, shaded by large trees, the sea almost at one’s 
feet, and a tremendous hill to ascend or descend in 
coming or going to the town, but up and down which 
the horses trotted complacently, as they were used to 
it all their lives, and desired nothing better. The Con¬ 
vent of Sisters of Mercy at Kinsale forms a conspi¬ 
cuous object, being erected on the summit of the hill 
above the town, and consisting of a large pile of build¬ 
ings in the Italian style. The church is large and 
handsome, with a beautiful choir for the religious on 
one side of the altar, shut off by a grating, while the 
rest of the church is open to the public. The schools 
attached to this convent are very fine ones. No pains 
or expense have been spared on the buildings or on 
their fittings, while equal care has been taken with the 


1 GO 


IRISH HOMES AND 


training of the children. There are several large school¬ 
rooms and various class-rooms opening from them, 
and the whole arrangements and training of the chil¬ 
dren are very good. They are under government in¬ 
spection, and they are another instance of the excellent 
results that can be attained in schools to which women 
of education and ability, actuated by the highest mo¬ 
tives, devote their full attention and energy. Besides 
the literary schools, there is a large industrial one, in 
which the girls are taught needlework, and also lace¬ 
making. There is a large poor population at Kinsale, 
and it is very necessary to enable the older girls to 
do something towards their own support. The needle¬ 
work was very good, and some of the specimens of lace 
quite beautiful. A House of Mercy and Orphanage 
are also connected with this house, both on a small 
scale, the Sisters not having possessed sufficient land 
to build as largely as they would have desired. The 
land, however, now, has been obtained, and a large 
orphanage will be built, and also, I believe, an hospital. 
The Sisters have a large number of poor and sick to 
visit, and often go considerable distances; they also 
visit the poorhouse. The convent at Kinsale was 
founded from Limerick in 1844, a lady of Kinsale 
having devoted herself and her fortune to the good 
work. A few Sisters were sent from Limerick to make 
this foundation, and in twenty-three years their num¬ 
bers have swelled to nearly two hundred, enabling them 
to send out a large number of filiations. They have 
sent foundations to various towns in Ireland, to Encr- 
land, California, and the United States. Ten years 
after the convent had been founded, two Sisters of 


IRISH HEARTS. 


161 


# 

Mercy from Dublin arrived at its door. Soon after 
their entrance the great bell of the convent was rung, 
and the whole community, to their astonishment, were 

begged to assemble ; and then the visitors told them 

* 

that Sisters of Mercy had been asked for by the Eng¬ 
lish government to nurse the soldiers of the Crimean 
army. The essential point was to provide a suitable 
superioress for the little band to go forth on this new, 
untried, and difficult mission. Would they give up 
their Mother under whose auspices their convent had 
risen up, and was then flourishing, and sending out fresh 
branches,for this arduous and perilous undertaking? 
Without this leave and the permission of the bishop 
the superioress could not go. The sacrifice was a 
hard one, but it was generously made ; and the Rev. 
Mother, with two Sisters, set out for Dublin, and 
from thence to London. Other convents contributed 
Sisters. Cork sent two, as also did Carlow, Charleville, 
and Dublin ; Liverpool gave three, and Chelsea one ; 
and the fifteen Sisters went out in December, 1854, to 
their hard and trying labours. In rather less than two 
years they returned, but not all. Some were left behind, 
far away from quiet convent cemeteries, where they 
had hoped to rest, never to be seen again till the 

“ resurrection morning 
Has just begun to break.” 


M 


162 


IRISH HOMES AND 


CHAPTER X. 

c St. Luke’s summer ’ unfortunately came to a sudden 
close the very day that we quitted Cork for Killarney. 
It began to rain, and there seemed no intention of its 
ever leaving off; and so it was amidst driving clouds 
of rain and gusts of wind that I caught the first 
glimpse of the mountains of Kerry, and entered the 
far-famed town of Killarney. The season was over; 
the hotels were empty, and the town wore a deserted 
aspect. e Doing ’ the Lakes was utterly out of the 
question— 

It rained all day, and it rained all night; 

It rained when morning broke ; 

It rained when £ the travellers ’ went to sleep, 

And it rained when ‘ they ’ awoke.* 

We amused ourselves with a visit to the beautiful 
Convent of Sisters of Mercy, built some little way 
out of the town, and commanding, I believe, a very 
fine view, but on the occasion of our visit this was 
hidden from our gaze by the blinding rain. We went 
into the poor schools, which were very fairly attended 
in spite of the weather. There is an industrial school 
for lace making attached to this convent, and also a 
House of Mercy; while the Sisters have heavy work 
on their hands in visiting the numerous sick and poor. 
This convent seems to have excited particular ad- 


* F. W. Faber. 


IRISH HEARTS. 


163 


miration in Dr. Forbes, who says, f There was a 
singular air of calm ancl solemnity in this house, and 
the Sisters, though looking cheerful, as busy people 
generally are, had something in their bearing which 
inspired at once reverence and awe.’ 

The great ornament of Killarney is the cathedral, 
the only one I have seen in Ireland worthy of the 
name. It is one of Pugin’s happiest conceptions. The 
tower is not yet built, and this of course greatly de¬ 
tracts from the beauty of the exterior ; but within, the 
great height of the roof, the noble pillars, the sense of 
space and grandeur, made one think of some of the 
beautiful cathedrals of old, of our own and foreign 
lands. Our first visit was paid about eight o’clock in 
the evening; it was a pitch dark night, not a star was 
to be seen, and as Killarney is guiltless of street lamps 
it was with some difficulty that we groped our way 
to the cathedral. We were amply rewarded. The only 
light was cast from one or two lamps burning before 
the altars, throwing flickering gleams of radiance here 
and there, and leaving the stately pillars and great 
spaces beyond wrapped in gloom. Here and there 
was the form of a worshipper enveloped in a cloak and 
drawn together in the extraordinary fashion which Irish¬ 
women only can adopt. Nowand then they prayed out 
loud in a low sort of moan, an Irish habit anything but 
agreeable in a small church, but which here, coming 
as it did from distant corners, had a very curious weird¬ 
like effect; then the moan ceased and there was utter 
unbroken silence, and the darkness seemed to deepen. 
Presently appeared a light, borne by a man who clumped 
over the church and peered about with his candle, 


1G4 


IRISH HOMES AND 


evidently looking for some one ; but not finding the 
object of liis search, he knelt down and prayed. In a 
few minutes in came three or four other men quite of 
the working; class, to whom the first comer administered 
a sharp rebuke for their want of punctuality; they 
were succeeded by some others and fell to their devo¬ 
tion very heartily. They turned out to be the confra¬ 
ternity of the Rosary who meet in the cathedral every 
night. Wishing to be in Killarney itself, we had taken 
lodgings, being tempted thereunto also by the excessive 
cleanliness and sweet face of a young woman who 
wanted to let her rooms. The lodgings were spotlessly 
clean, and snowy linen lay upon the beds. I had 
ordered a fire in my bedroom, and on returning from 
the cathedral we were dismayed to find the room choked 
with smoke—peat smoke, too, which fills your eyes and 
gets down your throat without any mercy. e And sure 
I am so sorry! ’ said the pretty landlady; c it is the first 
fire that has been lit since the summer, and it is just 
that the jackdaws have built a nest on the top of the 
chimney.’ So both for the jackdaws’ comfort and our 
own we begged to have the fire put out as soon as pos¬ 
sible. It was a pleasant sound when the house grew 
quiet to hear from the upper rooms a chorus of little 
voices saying their s ora pro nobis,’ as the pretty young 
mother was putting a brood of little ones to rest. 

The next morning we started for Ivenmare, telling 
our landlady we should be away one night or it might 
be two; but as it depended on the weather, she might 
expect us back the next day. And the next evening 
accordingly we did come, and found everything neat and 
clean; but our hostess’s face grew sorrowful—‘Ohl, 


IRISH HEARTS. 


165 


sure, ma’am, we thought you said you might not come 
till to-morrow, and the first thing to-morrow morning my 
husband was going to see about the jackdaws !’ It was 
an Irish trait—truly a vexing one. During our absence 
we had left all our luggage in this woman’s keeping, 
although we knew nothing of her, having an instinc¬ 
tive trust in the goodness of her face, and our confi¬ 
dence in Irish honesty was not misplaced. 

The weather was kind enough to hold up for a little as 
we pursued our journey along the mountain road which 
leads from Killarney to Kenmare. I wonder whether a 
more beautiful drive than that one can be had anywhere, 
and I strongly doubt it. To me the memory of it will 
certainly be 6 a joy for ever:’ on the one side, the lakes 
lying in their deep valleys; on the other, the richly 
wooded heights rising above our heads, decked as they 
were that day in their autumn tints, every variety of 
brown, red, gold, and orange; in the distance the 
great purple mountains, from which the clouds rolled 
away sometimes in great black masses, and sometimes 
overshadowed with gloom, and every now and then a 
transient gleam of sunshine broke over them like a 
smile ; while between us and the lakes lay a tangled 
mass of underwood, and shrubs, and rocks in wild fan¬ 
tastic confusion, as if nature, weary of painting the 
landscape, had thrown them carelessly from her hand. 
And then we came to a little lake lying by itself in 
silent beauty with the great mountains watching on all 
sides; and as the miles drew on we came more into the 
heart of the mountains, and a wild rocky waste spread 
itself on either hand, and the rain began again, or 
rather a sort of thick falling white mist which made 


166 


IRISH HOMES AND 


all surrounding objects look ghost-like and strange. 
The rain cleared away again, and the sun came fully 
out, as we began a sudden descent, and found ourselves 
looking down on the valley of Kenmare. In the midst 
of the valley lay a beautiful pile of buildings, such as in 
an English village would be at once taken for church, 
parsonage, and schools. They are, however, in fact, a 
church, schools, and convent bearing the title of Holy 
Cross. Arrived in Kenmare, we were not long in 
paying the convent a visit, and were received with af¬ 
fectionate hospitality. Our frontispiece gives some idea 
of the beauty of the church and convent, although the 
size of our pages has not allowed us to give any view 
of the surrounding landscape. The whole has been 
raised at the expense and under the constant superin¬ 
tendence of the parish priest. Archdeacon O’Sullivan. 
Spacious cloisters surround the building, one of which 
leads to the choir of the religious, which occupies the 
left side of the sanctuary. 

The interior of the church is very beautiful, and 
contains several good painted windows ; the east 
window is especially excellent, representing the Cru¬ 
cifixion. The ancient and beautiful custom of the 
4 sanctus bell ’ has been introduced into this church. 
The bell is so placed that it can be rung from the altar, 
so that all absent from the church may know the exact 
time when the greatest act of Christian worship is 
accomplished. There is a fine organ in the church, 
and the music is particularly good. The nuns take 
great pains with their choir ; they happily possess 
several first-rate musicians, both vocal and instrumental, 
in the community, and they make it one of their duties 


IRISH HEARTS. 


167 


to render the music of the sanctuary as worthy as 
possible of divine worship, and also carefully train 
some of their school girls to play the organ and con¬ 
duct the choir in country churches. 

This convent is one of the most interesting; in 
Ireland; it seems so completely to fill the place of the 
religious houses of by-gone days, when the convent 
was the refuge for all who needed help or sympathy ; 
when 


The Abbess listened, prayed, and settled all: 

Young hearts that came, weighed down by love or wrong, 

Left her kind presence comforted and strong; 

Thus strife, love, sorrow, good and evil fate, 

Found help and blessing at the convent gate.* 

Most of the religious houses we meet with now have 
been called into being by the exigences of the times; 
and their presence in large crowded towns seems to fit 
in, as it were, with the manifold wants of the present 
day; but the abbey of the Holy Cross rises in such a 
valley and amidst such beauties of nature as the monks 
and nuns of old loved to surround themselves with. 
Great purple mountains lie in the distance with their 
glorious variations of light and shade; a river, called 
in Irish Finihe (bright water),f wends its way through 
the convent grounds ; the quiet nuns glide through 
their cloisters; and all recalls the vision of olden days 
when the land was overspread with stately abbeys and 
priories. 

* Adelaide Anne Procter. 

f The river takes its rise in a mountain lake which lies beneath an 
abrupt precipice, some 1,000 feet high. In this lake there is an island 
called the Finihe, or Fright Island, from the exceeding brightness of its 
verdure and of the wild shrubs and plants that grow on it. 


168 


IRISH HOMES AND 


The nuns of this convent are a foundation from the 
Poor Clares at Newry, and came to Ivenmare on the 
feast of St. Raphael, October 1861 . 

The poverty of the people at Kenmare is great, 
arising chiefly from the fact that there is no work, the 
sad, sad cry which so continually reaches one’s ears in 
Ireland. There is no resident landlord in the place, 
and what the people are to do to help themselves, as 
they are so constantly advised to do in England, it is 
hard to see. The building of the church and con¬ 
vent gave employment to very many for some years, 
and the distress has been great since they were com¬ 
pleted. Both men and women, when they can manage 
to earn a little, try to save rigidly, that they may get 
enough money to emigrate; and the Sisters in order to 
obviate this evil opened an industrial school, which 
gives employment to several hundreds, and here 
needlework of all kinds, and lace making are carried 
on; Limerick lace, and Irish point and guipure, with 
many other varieties, are beautifully executed. The 
great market for the disposal of the lace is in the 
tourist season, when Kenmare is the halting-place 
between Killarney and GlengarifF; the lace is dis¬ 
played at the hotel where the tourists stop to dine, 
and some who stay longer pay a visit to the convent, 
and see the good that is effected. Many ladies have 
been so struck by the sight that they have endea¬ 
voured on their return to England to get orders for the 
lace there, having taken specimens with them to show 
their friends. Besides the industrial school, there are 
the literary ones, which are under excellent manage¬ 
ment and are numerously attended. Without having 


IRISH HEARTS. 


1G9 


what is actually called a middle school, the nuns try 
to classify the children, giving to each the education 
most suited to their position, and of course to their 
capabilities. Some of the children are of the poorest 
class, and are not only taught but fed and clothed by 
the nuns; the breakfast and the little stirabout and 
bread given at noon is often the only food of hundreds 
of these little ones, while winter’s cold and summer’s 
heat make no difference in their clothing—the same 
wretched rags are worn all the year round. Then, 
again, there are girls of a superior grade, who are being 
trained for schoolmistresses: they receive a solid and 
excellent education, their music is carefully attended 
to, and their drawing is exceedingly good. I was 
much struck by the specimens shown me, which gave 
evidence of considerable talent in the children, and 
careful cultivation by their teachers. 

It would not seem that the mountain wilds of Ireland 
were the most likely place for literature to flourish; 
nevertheless the convent of Holy Cross, Kenmare, has 
done a great deal in this respect. Several works of 
considerable importance have been composed by a 
member of this community. Of one of these* a com¬ 
petent judge has said, ‘ the book possesses a profound 
interest, and that of a character wholly apart from 
polemics.’ 

The History of the Franciscan Order, and the Life of 
St. Clare, are the productions of the same pen, besides 
which the writer has found time to send forth a vast 
quantity of little books suited for the poor and children, 

* The Life and Revelations of St. Gertrude. London: Burns and 
Oates. 


170 


IRISH HOMES AND 


and has thus supplied many a gap in popular litera¬ 
ture. I understand that a work long wanted is now 
in progress within the walls of this convent—a popular 
and illustrated History of Ireland. It is extraordinary 
that such a work has not long since appeared; the field 
of Irish history has been far too little explored, and 
the books issued on the subject, if learned and accurate, 
are, as is truly said, too f pale in colour and tame in 
language,’ and thus, though useful no doubt to the 
earnest student, have failed to interest the general 
reader. In giving, then, a really trustworthy, impar¬ 
tial, and yet popular history of the country, enriched 
with good illustrations, a religious of St. Clare will be 
doing a good work and furthering a great cause. 

The morning after our arrival at Kenmare was Sun¬ 
day, and the town presented a spectacle well worth 
seeing. Apparently the whole population turned out to 
mass; the roads were thronged, and every house seemed 
to be empty; all were arrayed in their Sunday best 
—even with the poorest, soap and water had achieved 
some sort of victory, and the poor garments were 
tidied up, while with a great number their Sunday 
apparel was by no means to be despised. At the eight 
o’clock mass the church was filled, and the sermon was 
a surprising one indeed to Saxon ears; not that it was 
given in the Irish tongue, it was in the vernacular and 
listened to with profound attention. 

It appeared that a few days previously two of those 
miserable beings who, not content with their own ruin, 
go about seeking to compass that of the young and in¬ 
nocent, had entered the little peaceful town. The 
vigilant eye of the shepherd had marked them out, and 


IRISH HEARTS. 


171 


the wolves were to be driven from the flock. The 
people were forbidden to give them lodging or food, to 
exchange a word, or hold any intercourse with them. 
I learned afterwards that the warning would be quite 
sufficient; the intruders would, as similar ones had 
done before, find the place too hot to hold them, and 
would decamp with all possible speed. The people of 
Kenmare are not perfect, and have their faults in com¬ 
mon with the rest of their fellow-creatures; but the 
social plague-spot of modern days and the dark shadow 
which hangs over our green English villages can find 
no resting-place in these mountain wilds. Kenmare is 
a very widely-spread parish, and the priests have to go 
immense distances to attend the sick and to hold 
c stations.’ It was impossible to help laughing at the 
absurd idea of the ( Parish Church ’ of Kenmare not 
being that of Holy Cross. However, such is the case. 
At the other end of the village stands a commodious 
building, with plenty of room for a large congregation, 
and an incumbent paid, out of the funds of the country, 
to minister in it. His congregation consists of about a 
score of people. This district suffered greatly at the 
time of the famine, the people being reduced to the 
utmost misery, which was immediately taken advantage 
of by the e soupers,’ who were willing to relieve any 
who would read Protestant Bibles and tracts, and 
receive the visits of the c Scripture reader.’ But the 
Kerry folk stood firm, and would not sell their birth¬ 
right for a mess of pottage. 

It was certainly very provoking of the rain. On 
our return to Killarney, it came down in torrents, and 
seemed to have made up its mind to go on. There were 


172 


IRISH HOMES AND 


so many places we wanted to see—so many things we 
wanted to do; for to visit Killarney and not sail upon 
the Lakes is really something to be ashamed of— 

But the merry clouds knew nothing of that, 

And the rain kept pouring on. 

Everybody said that when it once began to rain at 
Killarney it always went on for a fortnight, and as 
what everybody says must, of course, be true, we took 
leave of our pleasant landlady, paying her bill of such 
a marvellously small amount that an English lodging- 
house keeper would certainly have thought her insane, 
and went by train to Charleville. It is a sleepy, unin¬ 
teresting town, with plenty of objects of interest in its 
neighbourhood, and a fair, fertile country spreading on 
all sides. It is strange now to think of the stir and the 
bustle that must have been aroused in the quiet place 
by the conflict so recently going on at the town of 
Kilmallock, only five miles distant, when the Fenians 
attacked the police barracks, and the manager of the 
bank was shot down at his own door. There is a strong 
contrast between the two towns. Kilmallock is one of 
the most ancient places in Ireland, and one considered 
of such great importance that it was entirely surrounded 
by fortifications. Here the great Earls of Desmond 
had their chief power and state, and unfortunate Kil¬ 
mallock was, in the days of Elizabeth, razed to the 
ground. Arising once again in new strength and state, 
its beauty excited even the admiration of Cromwell, 
who, bent as he was on destroying c every fortified town 
and every castle and habitation of the Irish,’ was anxious 
to spare this place. However, he speedily changed his 


IIUSII HEARTS. 


3 73 


mind, and tlie fine buildings and fortifications were re¬ 
duced to ruins, and it is now one of those desolate spots 
which never seem able to recover the loss of their former 
greatness. Charleville is, comparatively, a modern 
town, and has but a brief history attached to it. It 
was founded by the Earl of Ossoryin 1621, and named 
after the reigning sovereign ; and it was burnt to the 
ground by the Duke of Berwick in 1690. 

At the very outset of Mrs. McAuley’s career as a 
Sister of Mercy she was entreated to found a convent 
at Charleville—a lady of the neighbourhood having 
offered 500/. and a house for the commencement. She 
foresaw great difficulties for the new foundation, and 
was unwilling to make it, but, with her usual meekness, 
yielded to the entreaties of others, and went there, with 
other Sisters, in October 1836. The description of 
her journey thither reads strangely when we remember 
it took place but thirty years ago. She went to Tulla- 
more, and intended to f go on by the canal boat to 
Limerick, and thence to Charleville. She did not know 
what a very slow and inconvenient mode of conveyance 
the canal boat was, nor its hours for starting. It was only 
when she reached Tullamore she learned it would not 
leave until the middle of the night. This arrangement 
precluded the possibility of her or the Sisters getting 
any rest; and as the boat did not reach Limerick until 
late the next night, they all suffered much from cold 
and fatigue.’ When they reached Charleville, they 
found the house so damp that their clothes were moist 
when they rose in the morning; and the difficulties Mrs. 
McAuley had anticipated came in abundance. But the 
Sisters persevered, and won the gratitude of the poor 


174 


IRISH HOMES AND 


who were wont to exclaim, { It was the Lord who drove 
you in amongst us !’ The damp house has been long 
since deserted, and a spacious convent built in a good 
situation fronting the principal street of the town, and 
having at its rear a pretty garden, well laid out, with 
several fields beyond. The interior arrangements of 
the convent are excellent—the corridors being particu¬ 
larly wide and airy. The nuns have a pretty choir, 
divided by a grating from the rest of their chapel, which 
has an entrance from the street, and is open to the pub¬ 
lic. Attached to the convent are spacious poor schools, 
numerously attended and well managed. An industrial 
school is also presided over by the Sisters, and their 
visitation among the poor and sick is very large. 
Nothing gives more striking evidence of the marvellous 
way in which the Sisters of Mercy spread than these 
convents in the provincial towns. They begin with a 
handful of nuns, and a few years later there is a 
flourishing community. Nothing more plainly shows 
also the zeal, generosity, and self-denial of the Sisters 
than the history of some of these foundations. The 
community at Charleville had surmounted long and 
trying difficulties. The harvest had come after the seed 
time, and the community was large and flourishing, 
dwelling together in close union and peace. 

Nuns for a colonial foundation were asked for, and 
the Sisters responded to the call. Those who were 
bound together by the tender ties of nature, as well as 
those of a religious sisterhood, were content to part 
probably for ever in this life. In the summer of last 
year, a ship sailed from Queenstown, carrying on board 
a freight of passengers never before, I should think, 


IRISH HEARTS. 


175 


gathered together in one vessel, and whose assemblage 
gave very evident proofs of the rapid progress of the 
Catholic religion, and the generous efforts of Ireland 
in its furtherance. The vessel contained two Bishops, 
half a dozen priests, eighteen nuns, and some ladies who 
intended to join the religious as soon as they were 
settled in their new homes. Three communities of 
nuns made up the party—one of Sisters of Mercy from 
Charleville, another from Athy, and a third of Pre¬ 
sentation nuns. They were bound respectively for 
Bathurst, Maitland, and Hobart’s Town. The vessel 
was surnamed by some the ‘ holy ship,’ and seldom 
indeed would such united sounds of praise and prayer 
have been heard as when this vessel made her way 
through the world of waters. Those who think that 
conventual life blunts the affections and hardens the 
heart would have been surprised to hear the account of 
the partings on board that memorable vessel—how the 
Sisters of Charleville clung round their 4 Mother,’ who 
had gone to see them off, and how the sacrifice of part¬ 
ing from their convent home, though generously made, 
had cut deeply into their inmost hearts. 


176 


IRISH HOMES AND 


CHAPTER XI. 

Oranmore, on an arm of Galway Bay, is a desolate 
looking town ; a number of deserted, unroofed houses 
meet the traveller’s gaze, and he soon learns that emi¬ 
gration has rapidly thinned the population of the place. 
The country round is bare and dreary, except where 
the eye catches a view of the coast with its innumer¬ 
able bendings, points of land, and juttings out into the 
bay. The line of railway from Dublin to Oranmore 
is considered to be a very uninteresting one, and in 
truth, after the pretty suburbs of Dublin have been 
passed, and a glance has been caught of the grey 
towers of Maynooth college, there are few objects 
worthy of notice, and the country is for the most part 
flat and ugly ; but the day I travelled on that line was 
what the Irish call a pet day,’ and the whole land¬ 
scape was bathed in such floods of glorious sunshine 
that even great tracts of barren moorland had their 
charm. 

At Athlone the railway crosses the Shannon, which 
even here is a beautiful and stately river. The train 
halts awhile at Athlone, giving the traveller time to 
recall the ancient glories of the place, its eventful his¬ 
tory, the wars that had raged beneath its walls, and 
last, not least, the fatal battle of Aughrim, whose loss 
was so disastrous to the Irish cause. 


IRISH HEARTS. 


177 


At one station on the line the train also drew up for 
a considerable time, and I was amused at watching a 
specimen of Irish manners. A sort of half gentleman, 
who had evidently been shooting or fishing in the 
town, joined the train, and was accompanied to the 
station by three or four young women, with shawls 
thrown over their heads, and several boys and men, 
the evident idlers of the town. A great deal of fun 
and chaff was going on, the traveller giving warm in¬ 
vitations to f Mary, my dear,’ to come with him, which 
Mary laughingly refused. My attention was specially 
drawn to one of the group, because I thought I never 
had seen so dirty a face before ; presently the owner of 
it said something, which fortunately I did not catch, 
whereupon a storm burst upon his head; e that he 
should have dared to say such a thing in the presence 
of girls,’ was the burden of the scolding, and he was 
abused by the traveller from the third class carriage 
with vehemence, and called every name of reproach 
in the Irish vocabulary ; his companions and the 
stragglers on the platform looked on in silent approval. 
I expected to see an Irish row, but no, my dirty friend 
took his reproof meekly, and seemed greatly ashamed 
of himself, if not for what he had said, at least for 
saying it c in the presence of girls ; ’ and I could not 
help wondering how many men of a similar class in 
England would have submitted to such a dressing 
for a like offence. The country round Oranmore is 
extremely rocky, and the eye grows weary of the con¬ 
tinual ‘ crop of stones.’ f Stones everywhere ; in the 
walls, the roads, the hills, the plains, and the fields ; 
all one unmitigated sheet of grey monotony, only 


] 78 


IRISH HOMES AND 


relieved by the distant hills of Clare.’ Here and there 
along the lonely roads we came upon a peasant woman 
in the picturesque costume of the neighbourhood; a 
red petticoat, beneath which are seen her bare feet, 
and a heavy cloak of dark blue woollen, curiously 
draped about the figure and head. It is no wonder 
the people emigrate, there is nothing for them to do ; 
the cry of no work is repeated here more sadly than 
ever, and the poverty is extreme. When in the winter 
through which we have passed, London was snow¬ 
bound for a week, and groups of men went about the 
streets wailing out in melancholy cadence, f We have 
no work to do,’ and people’s hearts were touched, and 
those who never gave to beggars sent out money and 
food, saying they could not refuse that appeal, I used 
to think of the peasants in county Galway, for the snow 
was deep on the ground there too, and there the cry, 
‘ We have no work to do,’ might be chanted, not for 
one week, but through many a long month. There is 
a little Presentation Convent at Oranmore, with poor 
schools, and a few miles distant, at the village of Clarin 
Bridge, is a lovely little convent of the Irish Sisters of 
Charity, called e Our Lady’s Priory.’ We are so ac¬ 
customed to come upon these Sisters amidst the busy 
whirl of great towns, that it seemed quite a surprise to 
find them in a f village convent,’ and one which reminds 
us again of days gone by, when the convent stood close 
by the castle gate, and religious were to be found in 
country solitudes as well as in the heart of great cities. 
The convent at Clarin Bridge was founded in the year 
1844 . It is a beautiful little buildincr, standing back 
from the road, and surrounded by a pretty garden. 


IRISH HEARTS. 


179 


shaded by a variety of trees. On one side is the 
chapel, and on the other the schools; and though 
Clarin Bridge is such a quiet village the population is 
large and widely scattered, so that the Sisters have a 
large attendance of children, averaging between two 
and three hundred. There is also a small industrial 
school attached, where lace is made, and we were 
shown some beautiful specimens of it; but here, as in 
most industrial schools, the great difficulty is to get a 
sale for the work. I was much interested at finding 
that the Superioress of this convent was the sister of 
Gerald Griffin, the e Lucy 5 of whom he speaks so ten¬ 
derly in his letters, to whom he was wont to pour out 
his hopes and fears, joys and sorrows, and whose 
example, no doubt, greatly influenced him in turning 
from a vain pursuit of worldly fame to a life of de¬ 
votion and sacrifice. Of her convent life he thus 
speaks in his poems 

To see that bark with canvass furl’d 
Still riding in that port of peace. 

And then he continues :— 

Oh! darling of a heart that still 
By earthly joys too deeply trod, 

At moments bids its owner feel 

The warmth of nature and of God. 

Still be his care in future years 

To learn of thee truth’s simple way, 

And free from groundless hopes and fears, 

Serenely live, securely pray. 

And when our Christmas days are past, 

And life’s fair shadows faint and dim, 

Oh! be my sister heard at last 

When her pure hands are raised for him. 


180 


IRISH HOMES AND 


And they were parted. Cut off in the prime of 
life, he rests in his quiet grave, and his memory is 
yet green amongst us. She lias lingered on to a 
good old age, while those she loved have, one by one, 
dropped by her side; patiently filling up the measure 
of her appointed task, and waiting for the hour when 
those who parted for the love of God shall have their 
joyous meeting. 

Near the convent is a large school, with house ad¬ 
joining, belonging to the Christian Brothers ; the com¬ 
munity is, of course, very small, but their school 
seemed to be fully up to the mark required for a 
country school; they also have a good attendance, and 
some of the boys come long distances. 

The Brothers told us various anecdotes of the love 
the boys have for learning, and the pains some of them 
take to keep up their learning in spare hours, after 
they have been obliged to leave school and go to work. 
This school and monastery were founded by the late 
Sir Thomas Bedington, who thus conferred a great 
and lasting benefit on the poor of the neighbourhood. 
He also gave a large portion of land to the Sisters 
of Charity, while their convent and its endowment 
for five Sisters was the gift of his mother, Mrs. 
Bedinffton. 

O 

Around the town of Galway gather many memories 
of history and romance. On every side the quaint old 
town bears marks of having fallen from a great estate, 
while at each turn there is some record or other of the 
busy part Galway once took in the history of the 
country. Its ancient feuds, the proud names of its 
f Tribes,’ its mercantile greatness, its victories and its 


IRISH HEARTS. 


181 


defeats, its sieges and its surrenders, all flock fast upon 
the visitor’s memory as he passes through the narrow, 
half-deserted streets. But neither feud nor conquest 
could rob it of its chief interest—the beautiful bav which 
lies spread at its feet. No words can adequately de¬ 
scribe the view when one stands on its shores, and the 
wild Atlantic, broken only by the dark ridge of the Isles 
of Arran, bursts upon the sight. Galway abounds in 
religious houses; to it the ancient orders have seemed to 
cling, and to raise their heads again within its walls as 
soon as ever they could do so in safety. I had an especial 
wish to visit the Convent of Poor Clares in Galway, 
standing on what is called f Nuns’ Island,’ for the his¬ 
tory of the order is one of the most romantic of any of 
the Irish religious houses. It seems that a convent of 
this order was existing in Galway in the year 1511, 
but it suffered the same fate as others at the time of 
the dissolution, and all traces of the religious who filled 
it are lost. From time to time, Irish ladies entered 
foreign convents with the hope of being able to make 
foundations in their native land, and six Irish nuns from 
the Poor Clares’ Convent at Gravelines came to Dublin 
in 1625; and, says the old chronicle, f soon after they 
had encloistered themselves in the city of Dublin, they 
admitted several to this form of life, and their persecu¬ 
tion began by search and threatenings in such manner 
that it was needful for them sometimes to hide them¬ 
selves and to send their ornaments (i.e. church orna¬ 
ments) to some Catholic houses. Yet, notwithstanding, 
the sweet savour of their virtues extended itself, and 
the manner of their life was much admired, and the 
more so because in people’s memory there were none 


182 


IRISH HOMES AND 


cloistered in that kingdom, and so everybody was de¬ 
sirous to see and hear them. Amongst the rest, the 
Lady Deputy went disguised to look on them, the which 
she did through the high grate, as they were in divine 
office, and was in great admiration.’ Unfortunately the 
Lady Deputy must needs tell her lord what she had 
seen, upon which f the Lord Deputy sent the mayor 
with armed men to the convent, ordaining to bring the 
Abbess, with some of the religious, to his presence, and 
to leave a guard upon the convent and the rest, until 
further orders.’ As the mayor came back with the de¬ 
fenceless nuns, c there assembled great concourse of 
people, who took compassion to see them go abroad 
barefoot, and feared much that they would suffer greater 
harm ; they raised such tumult that the mayor feared 
to be stoned, whereupon, directing his speech to Father 
Luke Dillon, brother to the Abbess, and some other 
lords, knights, and gentlemen kinsmen to the nuns, who 
were present there, he said that no hurt should be done 
to the gentlewomen, and, therefore, for God’s love, to 
appease the people. They did so, by the persuasion 
of the same Abbess and other Sisters. Having arrived 
at the Castle where the Deputy and peers, with a great 
multitude of people expected them, the Deputy ques¬ 
tioned the Abbess how did they dare to put up their 
grates, and settle themselves in cloister there.’ The 
answers of the Abbess, however, somewhat abated the 
fury of this wise ruler, and instead of driving them out 
of Ireland as he had intended, he only commanded them 
to quit Dublin within a month from that day. The 
order was obeyed, and, as the six novices, though un¬ 
professed, would not be persuaded to forsake them, the 


IRISH HEARTS. 


183 


whole set forth on their exile. 6 They divided them¬ 
selves into three companies amongst some noble county 
friends of theirs, who charitably harboured them until 
a poor house was built for their habitation in a solitary 
neck of land, without inhabitants, near a great cave, 
not daring any more to settle themselves in any great 
town or city or populous place ; and there they founded 
a convent, which they called Bethlehem, and it was 
situated in such a low and shadowy bog as the physicians 
wondered how such tender creatures, very delicately 
reared, could live therein, for in wet and rainy weather 
the water would not only fall through the roof of the 
house, but also in several places came up through the 
ground. Besides that, all their houses were so low that 
their cells and other rooms, except only the choir, were 
upon the ground.’ This convent was situated in the 
neighbourhood of Athlone, on the banks of Lough Bee, 
a noble expansion of the Shannon, but where there is 
much marsh and bog land; and, notwithstanding the 
unhealthiness of the site, the community rapidly in¬ 
creased, and people came from a great distance to see 
them. Another Lady Deputy had the same curiosity 
as her predecessor, and made the journey to Athlone, 
together with the Duchess of Buckingham, for the 
sole purpose of seeing and conversing with the nuns. 
However, fresh persecution was at hand, and in 1641 
the nuns were warned that the Parliamentary sol¬ 
diers were on their track. For some months they 
lived * in such panic as it were far easier for them to 
suffer death at once than to live in the like martyrdom.’ 
It was now that the people of Galway, confident in 
their own superior safety, besought some of the nuns 


184 


IRISH HOMES AND 


to come within their walls for protection. Accordingly 
a foundation was made, but thirty nuns remained behind 
in Bethlehem, being unwilling to quit it till they should 
be actually forced to do so. This soon took place, and 
they had to fly away in boats to the other side of the 
lake, while the soldiers took possession of the convent, 
‘ devouring all the provision, making sport and laughter 
of the altars, pictures, ornaments, and sacred things 
that were therein. Some of them would put on the 
habits of the nuns they found there, and, jesting at 
them, would say, etf Come, let us say Mass.” Lastly, 
they set fire to the convent.’ The exiled nuns divided 
into two parties—one going to Wexford and the other 
to Athlone. But a few years later both these convents 
were destroyed by Cromwell, and the nuns driven 
away. Many of them went to Spain, and were received 
into convents of their order, and beautiful records re¬ 
main of their holy lives and deaths—stories which might 
form themes for a poet and subjects for an artist. 
One ship touches the Spanish shore, but the aged 
Abbess who is on board is worn out, and dies in sight 
of land ; or again, when Sister Julia Blake, of Galway, 
is dying, she is 4 so jocund and glad that she caused to be 
played on a harp for her and therewith to sing Te Deum 
Laudamus.'’ 

The Poor Clares, on their arrival in Galway, received 
a great number of novices, and soon after sent the fol¬ 
lowing humble petition to the corporation : 6 That 

your petitioners, members of this corporation , did some 
yeares sithence forsake the world to serve the Almighty, 
and what through the distempers of the times, and 
through God’s holy will, have suffered great affliction 


IRISH HEARTS. 


185 


these seven yeares past, and in their necessity, as bound 
by nature, repaired to this toune; shewing, further, 
that through necessity, by reason of the tymes, their 
parents and friends are unable to furnish their wants, 
as in peaceable tymes they have intended; and that 
your poor petitioners doe suffer much by the exorbitant 
rent they pay, and, notwithstanding their due payment, 
are to be thrust out of their dwelling next May, their 
lease being then ended; the premises considered, and 
taken to your consideration the inconvenience of re¬ 
ligious women who want habitation, the convenience 
of their residence in this place, the preferment of young 
children, though poor, shall be relieved, by God’s as¬ 
sistance, in our convent, the everlasting prayers to be 
made for you, the glory of God, the preservation of the 
town by your petitioners, and their successors their 
intercessions, the honour of Gallway to befounde such 
a monasterie; the petitioners humbly pray that you 
may be pleased to grant them sufficient roome for 
building a monasterie, and rooms convenient thereunto, 

c> 

a garden and orchard, in the next island adjoyning to 
the bridge of Illanalltenagh, and for that your pe¬ 
titioners’ building will be rather a strength than any 
annoyance, hindrance, or impeachment, either to the 
highway leading to the other island, or to the safety 
and preservation of this corporation, which granted, 
they will ever pray. 

‘ Sister Mary Bonaventure, 

‘ Unworthy Abbesse.’ 

This petition was acceded to, and the island ‘ was 
granted to the community in 1648, and the same 


186 


IRISH HOMES AND 


was recorded in chapter and mayoralty book, in the 
mayoralty of Walter Blake, knight.’ Upon this island 
a handsome convent with cloisters was erected, but all 
was lost when Galway surrendered, in 1652, to the 
arms of Cromwell, and the convent was torn down. 
Many of the nuns seem to have lingered in Galway or 
its neighbourhood, for a few years afterwards we find 
two of them renting their own land from the man to 
whom it had been granted by the Parliament, and 
farming it. The land afterwards became the property 
of the crown. 

In 1686, a few of the Poor Clares still survived, and 
still pined after a convent home, and they ventured 
once more into Galway, and took a large house in 
Market Street, where they received lady boarders for 
the purpose of concealing the fact that they were re¬ 
ligious. The annals state that on the 1st of May, 
1698, the convent was broken into by the military, the 
nuns turned out, and obliged to disperse among their 
friends. Undaunted in courage, as soon as this storm 
had blown over, the nuns returned to their place, and 
lived unmolested till April 1712, when they were again 
turned out, and the convent converted into barracks. 
A kind friend living next door, Mr. Ambrose O’Connor, 
harboured five or six of them for the moment. When 
night drew on they had a great longing to creep back 
to their beloved and deserted choir, there to sav their 
matin office. Mr. O’Connor supplied them with candles, 
and gave the sentry a douceur to induce him to allow 
the poor ladies to say their prayers for an hour. 

So the nuns crept up to the chapel, and in low tones 
said their matins and lauds; meanwhile, the soldiers 


IRISH HEARTS. 


187 


who were sleeping in the cells were shaking with terror, 
and went next morning to their officers to complain 
that the choir was filled by the ghosts of nuns saying 
their prayers, and that they would no longer sleep in a 
haunted house. The convent was therefore deserted, 
and after a little time the poor nuns ventured back to 
it. That same year they sent six Sisters to found a 
convent of their order in Dublin, but soon after their 
arrival they were seized and taken to the Judges, and 
their papers also looked into. Such was the alarm the 
arrival of a handful of nuns excited, that an order 
was given that f all the laws in force against the papists 
should be strictly carried into execution.’ It does not 
appear that this was put in force as regards the Dublin 
nuns, but as it had been discovered they came from 
Galway, orders were sent down to disperse the nuns in 
that town. However, the religious were warned of it, 
and putting on secular clothing, they so mixed them¬ 
selves with the boarders that they could not be disco¬ 
vered. Time went on, and the nuns were in great 
straits, and reduced to uttermost poverty; and in 1740, 
c the times being more peaceable,’ two of the nuns ac¬ 
tually had the courage to make a journey to London, a 
formidable undertaking indeed in those days. Sister 
Sherritt, belonging to one of the oldest names in 
Galway, was cousin german to Lady Hamilton, one 
of the ladies of the bedchamber, and through her inte¬ 
rest the queen was induced to grant them three acres 
of land, f on their own island, to feed a couple of 
cows.’ 

No doubt the peculiar character of Caroline of 
Anspach inspired a hope that she might lend a favour- 


188 


IRISH HOMES AND 


able ear to the petition. She was a woman of education, 
4 a solitary model of refinement in the midst of a gross, 
clownish, and corrupt court;’ she was fond of power, 
and determined to exercise it. It is also said that 4 she 
took great delight in making theologians dispute knotty 
points in her presence, perplexing them with ques¬ 
tions concerning the opposite doctrines of the different 
Christian churches.’ Perhaps the idea that the nuns 
of St. Clare had been unjustly robbed and persecuted 
had some chance of getting into her head ; at all 
events, it must have been a strange sight when they 
appeared before her, wearing the poor habit of St. 
Clare, in the sight of her regal splendour. 

The nuns came back from London in 4 great joy, 
and soon got possession of the three acres, when they 
planted a garden, and built a small lodge for such of 
the Sisters as might want to change air, the convent 
within the town being close, and filling fast with sub¬ 
jects to the number of fifty at one time.’ As time 
passed on the funds of the community increased, till at 
last they were able once more to build on their beloved 
island ; a convent, chapel, and poor schools, all under 
one roof, accordingly rose up, and the entire com¬ 
munity removed there on the 15th of June, 1825. 
Thus, after an exile of one hundred and seventy-three 
years, the same religious family, the successors of those 
who had been driven out, and who had gone through 
such cruel vicissitudes, came back to their old quarters, 
to what is so touchingly called all through their annals, 
4 their own island,’ 4 their dear island,’ to live there at 
last in peace and security. Forty years have passed 
away, and here the community still dwell; only that 
by their side have risen up the fresh young communi- 


IRISH HEARTS. 


169 


ties of modern days. On the other side of the river, 
which runs around the island, is a Presentation con¬ 
vent, with schools, and the Sisters of Mercy are also 
in the town. 

We went into the chapel of the Poor Clares, and 
heard them saying office. The community does not 
seem to be numerous, and many of the Sisters are old, 
so that their poor school has been discontinued, and, 
indeed, it is not required in such close vicinity to the 
Presentation nuns. No doubt in time, as is often the 
case in these ancient communities, a fresh element of 
life and strength will spring up ; and as active work 
seems no longer required from the religious, the 6 first 
rule of St. Clare with the straight statutes made by 
St. Collet ’ may be practised, as in another s Beth¬ 
lehem,’ on the e Nuns’ Island.’ 

And then from the records of the past, from the 
convent whose rule was made for quiet days in the 
ages of faith, we went to see the Sisters of Mercy in • 
one of the outposts that they have lately gained in their 
incessant warfare with the misery and the evil which 
have sprung up in modern times. 

We made our way to the workhouse, which stands a 
little way out of the town, and where, within the last 
year or two, the infirmary has been given up to the 
care of the Sisters of Mercy; the guardians having 
thus followed the good example set by the board in 
Limerick. The infirmary is, of course, on a much 
smaller scale than that of Limerick. I do not think 
more than one hundred patients can be received; 
neither is the building to be compared to that of the 
former, and many of the rooms are not at all suited 
for sick wards. Notwithstanding all these difficulties 


190 


IRISH HOMES AND 


the Sisters have done wonders ; the infirmary is per¬ 
fectly clean, everything in order, and an air of comfort 
pervades the place. We happened to see the dinners 
served, and the quality of the food, and the nicety 
with which it was sent up, formed a great contrast to 
the wretched food and dirty plates I had often seen 
used in workhouses belonging to rich English unions. 

At Limerick the Sisters of Mercy have a little 
house to live in, divided from the infirmary by a small 
garden ; at Galway they have a set of rooms in the 
workhouse, and closely adjoining the sick wards. It 
would be far better if they had large airy rooms at a 
greater distance from the sick ; but it is of no use to 

o y 

talk to the Sisters of Mercy about their own comfort 
and convenience. It is much better for the patients, 
they say, that they should be close at hand, and with 
that they are satisfied. It would be only a repetition 
of what I have said about Limerick to dilate longer 
on this work. It is precisely similar, though on a 
smaller scale, and great is the good vTought to both 
bodies and souls of the patients by the presence of the 
Sisters. We were much struck by various little things 
which showed us with what scrupulous care waste w 7 as 
avoided, while the comfort of the patients was rigidly 
attended to. The very faces of the bright cheerful 
Sisters were calculated to cheer up the weary despon¬ 
dency of the poor sufferers. We went into the work- 
house girls’ school here, and I v 7 as dreadfully pained at 
the sight, they looked so exactly like a set of young 
savages; perhaps the bare feet gave them a particu¬ 
larly wretched aspect to English eyes, but I had 
seen plenty of barefooted children in the schools and 
in the streets of Ireland who w T ere civilised enough: 

£3 * 


IRISH HEARTS. 


101 


the uncared-for, wild aspect of these children was most 
terrible to behold. Their playground is a very con¬ 
fined one, and along one side of it runs a range of low 
buildings containing the rooms in which are lodged the 
unmarried mothers and their babies. This fact needs 
no comment. How such things can be suffered to go 
on in a Christian country is a mystery; and how the 
rulers of a land can allow the prevalence of the work- 
house system, calculated to demoralise a large portion 
of the population, is also extraordinary. Retribution 
for the crime of such neglect comes heavily on us, but 
its warnings seem thrown away. O’Connell, with his 
keen foresight, was convinced of the evil the work- 
houses would do to Ireland, and raised up his voice 
against them, and his prophecy has been abundantly 
fulfilled. The plan of drafting workhouse children 
into district schools does not exist in Ireland, and I 
believe the poor-law in England and Ireland differs so 
much, that the Acts passed in one country do not 
affect the other. There is no doubt that, excepting 
only the glaring injustice done to the children of 
Catholics in the district schools, their system is a great 
step in advance. In Ireland the formation of district 
schools would have less difficulty to contend against 
than in England. The children are all Catholics ; if 
there be exceptions, they are so few and so readily dis¬ 
covered that such children could be easily transferred to 
some Protestant orphanage, while the Catholic children 
could be placed under the care of religious or a staff of 
respectable secular teachers, so easily to be found in 
Ireland. Then, instead of training up a gang of 
young savages ripe for any kind of mischief, the 
orphan and deserted children would grow up to be 


192 


IRISH HOMES AND 


useful members of the population. That the plan 
would be economical in the end it is certain, because 
the present system, as we have seen in Cork, tends to 
make the children life-long burdens on the unions; 
whereas, if the district school were well managed, the 
children would become independent when grown up. 
It is a fact, that children sent out from the district 
schools in England do provide for themselves. In these 
schools, however, the managers see the evil of sending 
out the girls at the early ages of fourteen and fifteen, 
and some of them are trying to get power to keep 
them till eighteen. In Ireland, I believe, if the guar¬ 
dians were energetic the plan of district schools might 
be introduced at once. 

The Sisters of Mercy have a large convent in Gal¬ 
way, from whence the religious who serve the infirmary 
are sent out; they have two branch houses, one an 
orphanage, the other a Magdalene asylum. I had not 
time to do more than visit the churches of the Fran¬ 
ciscans and Jesuits, the latter of which is quite modern, 
and a very pretty and devotional one. 

And so I took my leave of Galway, a place I had so 
often longed to see; the city which, e once frequented 
by ships with cargoes of French and Spanish wines, to 
supply the wassailings of the O’Neils and O’Donels, 
the O’Garas and O’Kanes; her marble palaces handed 
over to strangers, and her gallant sons and dark-eyed 
daughters banished, remains for 200 years a ruin; her 
splendid port empty, while her “ hungry air,” in 1862, 
becomes the mock of the official stranger.’ * 


* Cromwellian Settlement of Ireland. By John Prendergast. 


IRISH HEARTS. 


193 


CHAPTER XII. 

Tiie pretty town of Loughrea, on the northern bank 
of the lake from which it takes its name, is at some 
distance from the railway. I left the line at Athenry, 
and proceeded thither on an outside car. The country 
was still bare and rocky, and the landscape was not 
improved by occasional scudding showers of rain; but 
when it cleared, there were distant mountain views to 
be caught which enlivened the scene. The history of the 
Carmelite Convent at Loughrea is one of deep interest, 
and is another of those wonderful stories connected 
with the ancient religious houses of Ireland. 

During the whole rage of the religious persecutions, 
the monks and friars had weathered the storm in far 
greater number than the nuns, having been able to 
disguise themselves, move rapidly from place to place, 
and find means of support in a way which women 
could not accomplish. Consequently though the beau¬ 
tiful old monastery, in the early English style of archi¬ 
tecture, built at Loughrea by Sir Kichard De Burgh 
for Carmelite friars in 1361, had fallen into ruins, 
monks of the order lingered in the town, and were to 
be found there at the close of the seventeenth century. 

A young dressmaker in the town had often expressed 
to them her ardent desire to be a religious of Mount 
Carmel. Seeing her great virtue, the fathers them- 

o 


194 


IRISH HOMES AND 


selves gave her the habit, and received her vows. 
There were always plenty of Irishwomen thirsting for 
religious life, and women of all ranks soon gathered 
round Sister Mary Teresa of St. Dominic, as she was 
called. One of the fathers collected alms for them in 

/ 

Spain, and in 1755 a house was built for them in the 
main street of Loughrea. It bore no external mark 
of being a convent; the lower part of it was arranged 
as a shop, and a milliner for many years rented it and 
carried on her business, while in the rooms above the 
nuns laboured, prayed, and suffered. The world knew 
nothing of them, they had no external mark of being 
religious, but they lived the lives of saints. Their 
poverty was extreme, and often they had nothing to 
eat, but they prayed fervently, and their wants were 
relieved in a remarkable way again and again. One 
day the prioress told the community to pray while she 
went out to beg, but she returned from her quest 
unsuccessful. Seeing her poor children faint with 
hunger, she bade them pray yet more fervently, and 
once again she ventured out on her weary errand. A 
stranger whom she had never seen came up to her, and 
silently put into her hand a piece of gold. The nuns, 
in their simple faith, always believed him to be St. 
Joseph. But persecution could not spare even this 
secluded and poverty-stricken community ; information 
was given that they were ‘nuns,’ and officials were 
ordered to seize the supposed criminals, and search 
their house. The nuns were warned of the danger, 
fled during the night, and were housed by different 
friends. It suddenly flashed on the prioress’s mind 
that she had left papers of some importance behind her, 


IRISH HEARTS. 


IIV) 


and she dared not risk losing them. So she dressed 
herself like a beggar woman, crept back to the convent 
and secured her property, and as she returned, met the 
officers on the stairs. But they never guessed she was 
anything else but a poor beggar, and let her pass 
without remark. The affair of the supposed convent 
was brought before the magistrates, and some chari¬ 
table friend pleaded the cause of the religious, de¬ 
claring they were only a few poor ladies who chose to 
live together and maintain themselves by their needle¬ 
work. His remonstrance was listened to, and the nuns 
were allowed to return, but for many years the utmost 
caution and secrecy had to be observed. Their chapel 
was literally an 4 upper chamber,’ hidden at the top of 
the house, and they wore a plain, secular dress, but 
were always true nuns in heart and soul. A young 
lady once wished to join them, but having no money, 
was unwilling to become a charge to so poor a com¬ 
munity. One day a person whom she had never seen 
in her life came to her door, and saying, 6 You wish to 
be a nun, take this and accomplish your desire,’ gave 
her the sum she required. 

Times began to brighten. The nuns now sent out 
three foundations, the two first of which to Cork and 
Limerick did not succeed, but the third one sent to 
Dublin took root there and from it the other Carme¬ 
lite convents in Ireland have taken their rise. At 
Loughrea the nuns now ventured to put on their 
habit, and in 1825 a house, standing on rising ground, 
completely out of the town, and with a good garden 
surrounding it, was built, and the nuns took possession 
of it. The community was still very poor, and re- 


196 


IKISH HOMES AND 


ceived lady boarders in order to gain means for support. 
They also had a poor school, there being no other one 
for Catholic children in the place. Thus it became 
impossible for them to observe their rule strictly, and 
as it is always difficult in such a case to know where 
mitigation should begin and end, relaxation gradually 
crept in. But it is a remarkable fact that all through 
their career there were saints among them. 

Mother Magdalene of St. John of the Cross used to 
spend hours on her knees adoring the Blessed Sacra¬ 
ment, and when her last hour came, she could only 
utter one sentence again and again, c Oh! Love 
Divine ! Oh! divine Love! ’ And light not of this 
earth shone around her, and sounds of celestial music 
came to welcome her to her home above. 

Another nun had passed through a long life with the 
purity and innocence of a child. She died at last, worn 
out with extreme old age, and bearing the usual marks 
of advanced years, but after death the freshness and 
beauty of youth came back to the corpse. Some gen¬ 
tlemen who happened to see her in her coffin ex¬ 
claimed, e How vain these women are! they have 
actually painted a dead body;’ but, say the convent 
annals very simply, f she was not painted, but she was 
an angel/ In Mount Carmel at Loughrea lives such 
as these had passed away, prayers such as these had 
ascended up to heaven, and benedictions rested on the 
house. In 1850 the Sisters of Mercy opened a con¬ 
vent in the town, and the necessity for supporting a 
poor school at the Carmelite Convent ceased, and in 
God’s good time the nuns were inspired to re-establish 
the rule of St. Teresa in its strict observance. In 


IRISH HEARTS. 


197 


different ways and in many forms God’s angels come 
pointing out the path that chosen souls must follow. 
To Mount Carmel at Loughrea such a message did not 
come in vain. It had been the birthplace of the Car¬ 
melite order in Ireland in times of persecution ; it was 
to be also the birthplace of the reform, a second Avila. 
Entirely trusting in Providence for support, the nuns 
gave up their pensionnaires ; a grille was erected, and 
strict enclosure restored; in short, every observance of 
the Carmelite rule, as reformed by St. Teresa, w r as 
adopted; so that when the General of the order visited 
the house, he observed he did not think that St. Teresa 
herself could find anything there to rectify. 

Within these walls there is an inexpressible sense of 
rest and peace. We feel withdrawn for awhile from 
earth and its cares, and lifted up into a region above 
the weary world. Here saints have lived and died, 
and here their deeds are bearing fruit; here weak and 
feeble women are imitating the lives of angels, not for 
themselves only, but for us—for us who have to suffer, 
labour, and combat in the world outside. A visit 
to Loughrea wakes up many thoughts; the foremost 
certainly is this, When will the contemplative orders 
come back to Ireland? Out of her poverty, in the 
midst of her sufferings she has done much, will she not 
crown her work? In one respect only Ireland is 
behind not only foreign countries but even England 
herself. In all Catholic countries side by side with 
the oeuvre of charity rises the house for prayer and 
contemplation. The white veils of the Sisters of 
Charity almost cover the land. The Frere des Ecoles 
Chretiennes passes us at every turn. The poor are 


198 


IRISH HOMES AND 


tended, cared for, honoured, and schemes for their 
assistance and benefit succeed, multiply, and bear fruit, 
because holy hands are lifted up unceasingly to God; 
and while some are ministering to the Lord in the 
person of His poor, others are sitting at His feet, 
hearing- His word. Who thai has visited cities in 
Catholic lands, hut has felt the calm and hush that falls 
on them, when, after making a round of the beautiful 
works of charity which the town contains, the well 
filled schools, the comfortable hospitals, the asyles for 
every human ivoe, they enter within the gates of one 
of those abodes of prayer and penance, from which 
the busy world is shut out, where its maxims may 
utterly be set at nought, where God is the sole Master, 
and His praise the continual theme. And even 
England, poor England, so poor in faith, so full of 
spiritual destitution, so scantily provided with reli¬ 
gious houses, with orphans calling out for help, and 
cries of misery on all sides ; England has been wise 
enough to bring back her praying orders to help on 
the active. And so, though the Minories, where once 
the daughters of St. Clare lived and died, is now but a 
crowded street in the heart of the metropolis, their 
successors live and pray in its suburbs: there in the 
dead of night, watching before the Tabernacle ; there 
in the early morning following in spirit along the way 
of the cross. 

Hard by their abode, the Carmelites, the true 
daughters of St. Teresa, show us in very deed what 
was the fashion of her life. A mile Or two farther in 
the great Babylon, and entering within a quiet chapel, 
we find ourselves before Jesus exposed in His sacra- 


IRISH HEARTS. 


199 


ment, and too often, alas! alone, save for one faithful 
watcher kneeling at His feet. A little farther on, and 
in another convent, the scene is repeated. 

In London alone there are more contemplative orders 
than in the whole of Ireland; for at present there are 
only three in the whole country, the Carmelites at 
Loughrea, the Franciscans at Drumshanbo, and the 
Redemptoristines, Dublin. It is quite certain that 
the need for active orders is great in modern days; 
but if the contemplative orders were wanted in the ages 
of faith, is it possible that they can be less necessary 
in an age of materialism and unbelief, when men are 
trying on all hands to destroy every token of the 
unseen world—in an age, too, of bustle and progress, 
and breathless speed, when the mighty power of prayer, 
and the lessons to be learnt in solitude, are too often 
forgotten ? And if a life of penance was called for in 
the days when men lived simply and hardily, and cared 
little for animal comfort, is it not needed now when 
the luxury of the age has reached an appalling height, 
when comfort has become a god, and men shrink from 
enduring hardness ? And experience shows that abun¬ 
dant blessings come in the train of religious orders. 

O O 

Active orders spring up and multiply by their side, 
their work is visibly blessed, and souls are won to God. 
These things we see, and what shall we say of those 
hidden from our eyes, woes averted, judgments de¬ 
layed, blessings falling like the dew? For the sake of 
a few God would have spared the sinful cities of the 
plain ; for the sake of a few ITe has patience still, 
proud and stubborn though the nations be. 

The Sisters of Mercy at Loughrea have a very fine 


200 


IRISH HOMES AND 


convent, and their schools contain four hundred and 
sixty-six children. They have also a House of Mercy 
and orphanage, and visit the poor and sick. I was very 
sorry I had not time to see their house, but I was 
anxious to reach Gort before nightfall, as the twelve 
Irish miles which lie between it and Loughrea had to 
be traversed on an outside car. The road runs close 
beside the lough, which is about two or three miles in 
circumference. Its waters looked dark and gloomy, for 
a storm was gathering overhead. Presently, down came 
the rain in torrents, such as I do not think I ever saw 
before ; but the car-driver was unmoved, and the horse 
trotted quietly on. Along the road it was amusing to 
see the way in which some of the peasant women met 
the fury of the storm, by stooping till they were nearly 
double, and thus letting the rain, which was driving 
furiously, pass over them. Presently, the sky cleared, 
and the sun came out and lighted up the landscape. 
Part of the road to Gort is very pretty, passing through 
some pretty woods, and close by several fine domains, 
well planted and laid out. The rest of the way the 
country is bare and rocky as before. As we neared Gort 
the sun was beginning to set, and the stars came out in 
the pale sky; peasants were coming home from the 
market, some in the half carts, half cars, which are 
used by the Irish poor, some walking ; but nearly all 
barefoot, and in the pretty costume of the county. As 
the sun disappeared it became extremely cold, and I 
was very thankful when the car drew up at a large house 
in the main street at Gort, which proved to be the 
Convent of the Sisters of Mercy. There I had such a 
welcome as one only meets with in Ireland, and cold 


IRISH HEARTS. 


201 


and fatigue were soon forgotten under the genial in¬ 
fluence of affectionate hospitality. 

Gort is a neat, clean, but wonderfully quiet little 
town, and the visitor is involuntarily reminded of the 
remark of the author of the 4 Irish Sketch Book,’ who 
describes Gort as a town which e seemed to bore itself 
considerably, and had nothing to do.’ There is a little 
stir of life, however, twice a day, on the arrival of the 
mail coach from Galway and Ennis, for at present this 
old-fashioned mode of conveyance is the only available 
one between the two towns. A railroad is in course 
of construction, which is to join the Midland Great 
Western line at Athenry, and which will be a great 
boon to the traveller. Through the town of Gort 
runs a broad clear river, on the banks of which 
stands the convent. It is a large country house, which 
has been transformed into a convent, while schools 
have been built adjoining it. Behind the house are 
good-sized grounds, planted with some of the finest 
oak trees I ever saw, through which the river wends 
its way. On a rising ground at the end of the 
grounds is the little quiet cemetery of the nuns. The 
schools here struck me as particularly good, the build¬ 
ings well adapted for the purpose, and the children 
thoroughly trained and well taught. There are infant 
schools for boys and girls, another for elder girls, and 
a small middle school. This latter is an absolute ne¬ 
cessity in Gort, and the children of this class could 
not otherwise obtain any education, there being no 
other convent of any kind within miles. The chapel 
is only a large room, fitted up for the purpose, but it 
is very pretty, and has an air of devotion about it. It 


202 


IKISH HOMES AND 


was pleasing to see the Sisters, when the labours of the 
day were over, assembling in their stalls to say their 
matin office, forestalling thus by prayer and praise the 
cares and troubles of the coming day. There is an 
old-fashioned, but clean and comfortable hotel at Gort, 
almost facing a large plain building, which forms the 
Catholic chapel. A large stone cross stands in the 
churchyard, and several people were kneeling round it 
in prayer when on the Sunday after my arrival in Gort 
I went to the chapel for nine o’clock mass. It was like 
a little bit out of a foreign country suddenly set down 
before my eyes; but on entering within the chapel the 
scene as contemplated from the gallery was stranger 
still. The whole floor of the church is given up to the 
poor, and there are no benches or chairs of any kind. 
There they stood or knelt, grouped in various attitudes, 
and in a variety of costumes. The women, in their red 
petticoats and blue cloaks, wdien standing together in 
groups, formed a subject for an artist; here and there 
were those not rich enough to possess the valued cloak, 
some of whom had tied bright coloured handkerchiefs 
over their heads, and others had arranged their poor 
clothing as best they could. The occasional intrusion of 
a straw bonnet, or, worse still, a hat, was a painful eye¬ 
sore to the spectator. There were quite as many men 
as women, and of all ages, some greyheaded, fathers 
with their little ones clinging round them, smart look¬ 
ing youths, and numerous boys. When the consecra¬ 
tion bell sounded the whole mass bent low, many 
almost prostrate on the ground ; it was like an Italian 
picture, save and except that instead of sculptured 
marbles or Gothic arches surrounding the multitude, 


IRISH HEARTS. 


203 


there rose the plain whitewashed walls of a poor Irish 
chapel. These whitewashed chapels of Ireland, how 
they jar upon the sight of those accustomed to see all 
that is noble and beautiful adorning the sanctuary ! 
Yet what shrines they have been of faith and devotion ! 
what witnesses they are to the persevering, uncon¬ 
querable faith of the Irish ! 

There were a great many communicants at this 
mass, and when it was ended the priest took off his 
chasuble, and advanced to the front of the altar. 
There was a sudden rush. Up got everybody from 
the floor, and the multitude packed themselves in a com¬ 
pact mass round the altar. The sermon was in Irish; 
every eye w r as bent on the preacher, every ear strained 
to listen, and it was evident, from the gestures of the 
people, that their whole attention was given to the 
discourse, and that every point went home. Certainly 
Tennyson’s satirical, but perfectly true, description of 
the farmers who fill the fine old village churches of 
England, with their Norman arches, their aisles, and 
their transepts, could not be applied to the Irish 
peasantry ; for when speaking of the sermon, Tenny 
son makes the auditor exclaim— 

An I niver know’d what a mean’d 
But I thowt a ’ad summut to saay, 

An I thowt a said whot a owt to ’a said, 

An I coined awaay. 

The eloquent preachers in crowded city churches 
would often rejoice to have an audience so hanging on 
their words. I declared afterwards that I understood 
the sermon very well; for it was the festival of the 
Seven Dolours which formed the subject of the dis- 


204 


IRISH HOMES AND 


course; and the gestures of the priest, and the answer¬ 
ing emotion of the people plainly told that they were 
bidden to endure patiently, and to suffer bravely 
after the example of her whose sorrows no mortal can 
ever equal. That Sunday was a cloudless summer’s 
day, and after the last mass was over, the kind old 
parish priest took me to see the great lion of the 
neighbourhood, Kilmacduagh, some three miles distant. 
The diocese in which Gort stands rejoices in the 
poetical names of Kilmacduagh and Kilfenora. I 
suppose I need hardly remind my readers that Ml is 
Irish for church, and hence the number of Mis scat¬ 
tered widely over the country, which gave rise to the 
alarming answer given to a Saxon tourist by an Irish¬ 
man. He had been to Kilsome, was going to Kil- 
many, and then on to Kilthemail! 

The see of Kilmacduagh was founded by St. Colman 
in the seventh century. Here the cathedral was built, 
close beside a round tower, and surrounded by six other 
churches. We explored the ruins well, and I was for¬ 
tunate in having a cicerone who had often visited them 
before, and took a vivid interest in them. It was 
irritating to see cattle and sheep grazing in the area, 
more especially as the place is held sacred by the 
people who bring their dead for burial in its precincts. 
The former owner of the place was proud of the ruins, 
and took pains to preserve them. It has now, unfortu¬ 
nately, passed into younger and more careless hands. 
It is supposed that one of these seven churches was a 
college chapel, another a monastery, and a third a con¬ 
vent—the other three being probably smaller churches 
or oratories dedicated to some favourite saints. The 


IRISH HEARTS. 


205 


convent chapel is the most perfect, and the east window 
and several arches, with their corbels, show it to have 
been one of great beauty. The round tower is espe¬ 
cially remarkable from its leaning seventeen feet out 
of the perpendicular, and it is certainly a most singular 
object. Tradition says it was built by Gobhan Saer, 
the architect of Glendalough and Antrim. 

On leaving this interesting spot we drove through 
some pretty country, with distant views of the f lonely 
hills of Clare,’ all radiant with the sunshine, to Lough 
Cooter. It was pleasant to see all along the way how 
the people greeted the priest; they came out from their 
cabin doors, and children ran from their play to get a 
word from him. We met groups of peasants returning 
from the last mass at an outlying chapel, and between 
priest and people there was ever a kindly greeting. 
Lough Cooter is the largest lake in the south of county 
Galway, with many wooded islands lying in its bosom, 
and lovely views between them. The f Castle,’ be¬ 
longing to the Gough family, is a modern erection, in 
the castellated style, standing on the west bank of the 
lake, and commanding a most exquisite view, while 
the lawn slopes down to the water’s edge. Beautiful 
grounds, richly supplied with trees, surround the house, 
part of them planted and laid out, part left for the 
deer to wander about. A gateway and lodge stand at 
each end of the grounds; and after passing through the 
whole length, we returned by another route to Gort 
in time for the quiet Benediction in the little convent 
chapel. 

Travellers from Galway and its neighbourhod pro¬ 
ceed by coach via Gort to Ennis, and as there are many 


2C6 


IRISH HOMES AND 


emigrants, the coach is often full. This was the case 
on the morning on which I left Gort, and accordingly 
two 4 long: cars ’ were furnished from the coach office, 
which were rapidly filled with emigrants from Gort. 
The whole cortege started from the office in the main 
street, and it was a strange and sorrowful sight to see 
the partings. A crowd of people collected round the 
passengers: mothers and brothers and sisters were say¬ 
ing good-bye, weeping, wailing, and sometimes howling; 
kisses were given, last greetings exchanged ; promises 
to write soon, to send money over, and 4 bring the others 
out’ were uttered, and, at last, away we went. I no¬ 
ticed that the best were going—the young, strong, and 
vigorous—the old, the feeble, and children were left 
behind. By my side sat two young girls, strong, healthy, 
and active. I was amused at their costume. They 
were going into the world, and had discarded the blue 
cloak and stuck on their heads showy bonnets much too 
small for them, profusely decorated with tulle and arti¬ 
ficial flowers, and with broad strings of white ribbon. 
Anything more incongruous for a journey to America 
could not be conceived ; but I was still further amused, 
for when we were fairly out of the town passing through 
the solitary monotonous country, and admiring friends 
were left behind, out came the large shawls, in which 
head, bonnet, and all were fully enveloped. They be¬ 
came confidential, and told me they were going to 
America to get places; and, on my suggesting that 
they could find such at home, shook their heads and 
said not with such wages as in America. When they 
were tired of talking they took out their books, and 
began to read, and, peeping over the shoulder of the 


IRISH HEARTS. 


207 


one next me, I perceived the volume carried with her 
was a prayer book. 

It is a long dreary drive of nineteen miles to Ennis, 
through an open limestone country, with low, craggy 
hills. In all this part of Ireland the eye wearies for 
the pretty villages and comfortable-looking farm-houses 
which give life and variety to the flat counties of Eng¬ 
land. The station at Ennis is a wretched one, the plat¬ 
form being of earth, and it was not improved by recent 
rain and the trampling of a crowd of emigrants. Al¬ 
though this is the terminus of the Ennis and Limerick 
line, the train was in no hurry to start. Everybody 
took their time, and just half an hour after the one 
named in the time bills the train set out. It progressed 
very slowly on its way, and I was not sorry, for it gave 
us the opportunity of an excellent view of Clare Abbey 
—close by which the line passes— one of the loveliest 
ruins I had ever seen, a graceful church, in the form of 
a cross, with east window almost perfect, and a lofty 
tower, and the ivy twining round about the broken 
arches, and covering the walls with a rich green mantle. 
On reaching Limerick, I implored a porter to get my 
luggage quickly, as I wanted to catch the next train 
for Charleville. c But sure she’s been gone this ten 
minutes. She was an hour after her time. But your 
train was so late, she could not wait any longer.’ As 
I expressed my vexation, he said, in a tone of deep 
sympathy, e There’ll be a train to-morrow.'’ On making 
further enquiries at the station, it turned out that the 
trains do not profess to fit in with each other, and, as one 
of the officials expressed it, 6 The great lines tries to 
eat up the little ones.’ 


208 


IRISH HOMES AND 


CHAPTER XIII. 

It must not be supposed that I have at all sufficiently 
enumerated the charitable institutions of Dublin ; it 
would require more time than I had at my disposal to 
visit them all. Few, however, of those conducted by 
nuns escaped my notice, but there are colleges, schools, 
orphanages, and asylums of various kinds in a flourish¬ 
ing state. 

The Christian Brothers have magnificent schools in 
Dublin attached to their principal house in North 
Richmond Street, and they have five branch schools 
in different parts of the city, and a flourishing establish¬ 
ment at Kingstown. 

There were institutions also in Ireland that I much 
wished to see, but which I was not able to reach, more 
especially the Reformatory for girls at Monaghan, and 
that for boys at Glencree. 

Another order, partly of Irish origin, has made great 
progress in Ireland—the Sisters of Loretto. I call it 
partly Irish, because, though it was founded by Mrs. 
Ball, an Irish lady, and its ranks filled by her country¬ 
women, the institute itself is a foreign one, and has 
various houses on the Continent. This is entirely an 
educational order, chiefly devoted to the instruction of 
the upper classes, although, as is universal in Ireland, 
free schools are attached to their convents. Several of 


IRISH HEARTS. 


209 


the convents of this order are very fine buildings ; the 
mother-house at Rathfarnham, near Dublin, is really 
magnificent, and is surrounded by fine grounds ; when 
viewing the chapel, or walking round the cloisters of 
this convent one might fancy oneself in an f abbey of the 
olden time,’ when orders vied with each other in raisins* 
magnificent conventual piles, and cloister life flowed 
on in unbroken security and peace. 

There are two convents of the order in Dublin, and 
another at Dalkey, built on rocky heights, and almost 
seeming to hang over the sea. The chapel is very 
pretty, and one hundred and eighty poor children are 
taught at the schools. 

The residents in Dublin are certainly fortunate in 
their immediate vicinity to beautiful scenery, to which 
there is such easy access. Trains to Kingstown run 
every half hour, and convey the passenger along the 
coast of Dublin Bay with lovely views succeeding 
one another. From Kingstown the line proceeds to 
Dalkey, where the pretty island of Dalkey, about a 
thousand yards from the mainland can be visited, and 
where Killinny Hill rises in fine outline. Then we go 
onwards to Bray, in County Wicklow, so well known 
to the tourist; a charming and favourite watering-place 
for the summer months, and with hills rising on all 
sides. Bray Head towers boldly above the rest, and 
the scramble up it is richly rewarded when you have 
reached the summit, and behold distant mountains, 
Dublin Bay, Dalkey island, Kingstown, and the town 
of Bray itself lying in a rich valley; the blue sea 
washes the foot of the wild crag, the sunshine lights 
up the scene, and large white clouds are drifting over 


210 


IRISH HOMES AND 


the sky, and the descent to the town is through wild 
tangled woodland paths. 

There is a large, handsome Loretto convent at Bray, 
with fine grounds, formerly a gentleman’s residence. 
We admired the ingenuity which had converted sum¬ 
mer-house and dairy into an oratory, wdiile an old ruin, 
supposed to be the fragment of some ancient religious 
house, now guarded the cemetery of the nuns. 

There are large poor schools attached to this con¬ 
vent, receiving two hundred and sixty-seven children. 
The chapel is beautiful: indeed, in all the convents of 
this order no expense has been spared to make the 
building, and especially the chapel, beautiful and 
attractive. 

On the Drumcondra road, long before we reach All 
Hallows Convent, there is a large and rather gloomy- 
looking house standing back from the road with a 
little garden before it; the entrance is at the side door, 
and about a quarter past tw r o every day a little knot 
of people gather about the house. When the door 
opens they all go upstairs, and find themselves in a 
moderately sized room converted into a chapel; an 
image of St. Alphonsus Liguori is a conspicuous object, 
and a large alcove contains an altar handsomely vested 
and adorned. At one side of this alcove is a grating, 
and when at half past two a priest enters the chapel 
to give benediction, the voices of nuns are heard 
chanting behind the bars. The benediction over, the 
portress sternly banishes those who w r ish to linger, and 
the chapel is closed again. This convent is that of 
the Bedemtoristines, or as the Dublin people call them 
the 4 red nuns; ’ founded by St. Alphonsus at the 


IRISH HEARTS. 


211 


same time as his congregation of priests, and bound to 
strict enclosure and contemplation. Having an intro¬ 
duction, I one day went into their parlour, where there 
is a grating let into the wall, behind which soon 
appeared a sweet-looking nun: her dress was very 
remarkable; the habit is a bright red, the scapular 
sky blue, a white coif shades the face covered by a 
black veil, while a coloured miniature of Our Blessed 
Lord hangs on the breast. This dress is worn as 
symbolical of the office of the nuns, attendants round 
the altar throne of One greater than any earthly 
monarch. I asked the Sister what was the object of 
her order; she said to be ‘spiritual Sisters of Charity,’ 
continually praying for those who suffer and sin, and 
for those whose vocation it is to aid them. 

There are Carmelite Convents in Dublin, but they 
are disappointing to those who know the convents of 
this order in foreign lands, and who are familiar with 
the life of St. Teresa. The Carmelite Sisters in Dublin 
have not yet resumed their true place; they have not 
vet recovered from the effects of the long persecution. 
Before the active orders were founded, it was an 
absolute duty for them to mitigate their rule, and lend 
their aid to the work of education ; but it would seem 
now as if the time had come when they might resume 
the strict observance of their holy and beautiful rule, 
and become not teachers but apostles; ‘ Apostles 
seeking souls, even as in the ocean bed is sought the 
hidden pearl.’ * 

It is true there are difficulties in the way, but surely 


* Pere de Ravignan. 


212 


IRISH HOMES AND 


they are not greater than those which beset the path 
of the Carmelites in France, when the storm of the 
great Revolution had passed away. There, as in Ireland, 
the wants of the poor were great; for a time, the nuns 
had to do the work of Sisters of Mercy, the education 
of the young was important, and the restoration of 
religion would have seemed to be best promoted by 
active works of charity. Nevertheless, the Carmelites 
never rested till they had regained their true vocation, 
and restored the rule as their great reformer left it. 
We went to one of the Carmelite Convents near 
Dublin ; there was no enclosure, and the discordant 
sound of a piano, on which a child was evidently learn 
ing to play, jarred strangely on the ear, when we 
thought of the stillness and repose which should 
characterise the convents of St. Teresa; of the 
f hermitages ’ to which the Sisters were bidden to 
retire; of the solitude and silence which she so care¬ 
fully enjoined. 

They were not f to work at curious and delicate 
things which occupy the thoughts, and prevent their 
resting in God.’ ‘ They must not work all together, 
for fear silence should be broken,’ says their holy rule, 
and we remembered the eloquent words of Pere de 
Ravignan, addressed to a novice of this order: c Oh, 
child of Carmel, follow the steps of your mother ; cross 
the abyss, fly to the desert, encounter the night; seek, 
seek, and you will find, you will find God. Give your¬ 
self up, immolate yourself, and then you will bring 

down on the souls of others and on our ministrv the 

*/ 

benedictions and graces of which we stand so much in 
need; cast away all that keeps you back; another world 


IRISH HEARTS. 


213 


is waiting for you. To this world you are dead and 
crucified; forget it all, break through it all, destroy it 
all, and you will find a better life, because, then, you 
'will live alone with God. You pass behind this grille , 
this door shuts upon you like that of the tomb. What 
does this cloister, this barrier denote ? That from this 
moment you enter into the holy liberty of the children 
of God; you have found freedom. In the world there 
are chains, the yoke that must be borne; there we are 
slaves, slaves to our tastes, our habits, and our passions; 
slaves to the customs of the world, the usages of the 
world, its opinions and its requirements; in religious 
life is true freedom.’ 

After passing through a number of streets in the 
direction of Sandymount, it is quite a surprise when 
the visitor, after a sudden turn in the road, comes 
upon the open sea and fine range of sands, in which 
Sandymount rejoices, and for this reason it is a fa¬ 
vourite resort of Dublin people. There is a beautiful 
church here, dedicated to the Star of the Sea; ’ a 
convent of Sisters of Charity, and the Carmelite Con¬ 
vent called that of ‘ Lakelands.’ 

The house is a good one with large grounds, and 
stands in an excellent situation. Attached to this con¬ 
vent is an orphanage, which the Sisters superintend. 

It is managed by a matron with an assistant, and I 
liked it because it was more homely and simple than 
orphanages usually are. The matron, a good, earnest 
woman, with her heart in her work, apologised to me 
because the children had to dine in the kitchen, and 
there was no refectory to show me. I told her I was 
heartily glad to find it was so, and I thought the little 


214 


IRISH HOMES AND 


discomforts and roughness they had to encounter 
would be an excellent preparation for their future 
life. 

The charge of an orphanage is a great anxiety. 
And this anxiety does not end when a child has left 
the house. Those who have brought her up ought to 
keep an eye over her, correspond with her, become her 
resource in hours of trial, and look after her through 
life. Now that there are such numbers of active orders, 
there would seem to be no difficulty in transferring to 
their care the orphanages and schools, which at present 
weigh down the hearts of the poor Carmelites, and it 
is perfectly certain that the work would be far better 
done by the active Sisters, who are trained to the care 
of the poor, than by those to whom it is a gene and a 
torment. Except in passing to the orphanage the 
nuns of this house keep strict enclosure, and observe 
all the other points of their holy rule which are com¬ 
patible with their active duties. No doubt the time 
will speedily come when the observance of it will 
prevail in full vigour. I believe the same work of 
restoration of the rule is progressing at the Convent of 
Ranelagh, but the nuns are still burdened with a poor 
school in which they give the religious instruction 
only, and of course it would be far better to have the 
school under the charge of those who can take its 
whole management. 

At Harold’s Cross, almost opposite to the Sisters of 
Charity, is aConvent of Poor Clares ; this community 
has grown up from the six Sisters who came in fear 
and secrecy from Galway in 1712 , and who were 
dragged before the judges. It is a large community. 


IRISH HEARTS. 


215 


and in 1830 sent out tlie foundation to Newry, which 
has been so successful. The convent is very large, and 
has extensive grounds. An orphanage is under the 
charge of these Sisters; it is quite separate from the 
convent, and the nuns have to cross the outer garden 
to reach it. It did not seem equally well managed 
with the other orphanages that I have seen, and the 
nuns evidently find it a great burden, and are fully 
conscious that they are unable to see after the children 
who leave, or to collect the funds for the support of the 
orphanage, as easily as religious of an active order 
would. We could not help longing to see the orphan¬ 
age transferred to the Sisters of Charity close by, and 
then that the Poor Clares should adopt the rule of 
their order, as it was brought from Gravelines by their 
first Sisters, so that another ‘Bethlehem’ could be re¬ 
stored in Ireland, where, says the old chronicle, ‘ they 
prayed continually, for while they laboured with their 
hands, they used to be many times saying some kind 
of prayer in common, answering one another therein 
choirwise. They observed such silence that mid-day 
seemed to be night. They had mutual charity to 
help and comfort one another, rising continually at 
midnight to say matins, and never eating flesh; nor 
wore sock, shoe, nor stockings, but contented them¬ 
selves with wooden soles or pattens under their feet, 
and observed all other things ordained by the first rule 
of St. Clare, with the straight statutes made by St. 
Collet upon said rule.’ 

Not far from the Poor Clares at Harold’s Cross is 
the fine monastery of the Passionist Fathers, and a 
new church is in course of erection. The present one 


21G 


IRISH HOMES AND 


is small and without much ornament, but greatly 
frequented by the people. 

Another interesting spot in Ireland, which I much 
wished to visit, is Benada Abbey in county Sligo. It 
was formerly an Augustinian Abbey, and after the 
dissolution fell into various hands, till at last it became 
the property of a Catholic, whose dying wish it was 
to give it back to the Church. He left sons and 
daughters behind him, and it did not seem likely that 
his wish would be fulfilled; but his children before 
many years were over had given to God not only all 
that they had, but the devotion of their whole lives. 
The sons are in the Society of Jesus, the daughters 
are Sisters of Mercy and Charity, and a convent of 
the latter order has been founded within the limits of 
Benada Abbey. By a singular coincidence, for it was 
not at all premeditated, the Blessed Sacrament was 
placed in the new chapel on the Feast of St. Austin. 
So after three long centuries one of the waste places 
of Ireland has once more blossomed like the rose. 
May it not be an augury for the future, and may it 
not come to pass that many of those ruined sanctuaries 
around which the people have so faithfully prayed 
will be once more devoted to the service of God ? 


IRISH HEARTS. 


217 


CHAPTER XIV. 

A JOURNEY through Ireland, and a stay of any length 
upon her shores, must necessarily leave many impres¬ 
sions on the mind of the traveller; and, in the present 
state of things, when the ‘ Irish difficulty ’ is a ques¬ 
tion of the day, the record of the impressions of even 
one individual may not he wholly useless. My last 
visit to Ireland was paid shortly before the Fenian 
outbreak, when the Habeas Corpus Act was sus¬ 
pended, the country * proclaimed when timid ladies 
had lain awake at night, fancying they heard the 
tramp of the Irish Republic, and when a universal 
depression hung over the country. While in Ireland, 
I lived (with very rare and brief exceptions) entirely 
among the Irish, among those who had been long resi¬ 
dent in the country, and rarely, if ever, quitted it. 

Wherever I went I found Fenianism was disliked, 
feared, and disapproved of; looked on as politically 
unwise and morally wrong. Wherever I went I found 
people were loyal to the English Government; but, I 
must confess, it was the loyalty of the head, not that 
of the heart; and I believe the great cause of Ireland’s 
miseries may be summed up in these few words : 
En o-land is not loved, not trusted. The educated and 
the thoughtful Irish, who influence the classes below 


IRISH HOMES AND 


$ 18 

them, believe that no good can result from the uproot¬ 
ing of the English Government ; that attempts at 
rebellion are certain to be unsuccessful, and can only 
tend to disorganise and injure the country, and so they 
discountenance them ; but there is none of that affec¬ 
tionate loyalty which forms a greater bulwark round a 
country than armed men or ships of war. There is a 
universal discontent, arising from a vivid remembrance 
of the oppression of the past, and a keen sense of 
injustice in the present. 

Englishmen say, What is the use of looking back 
to the past ? In the first place it is natural to the Irish 
character, and, secondly, the misgovernment of the 
present tends to perpetuate it. Remove the causes of 
present discontent, and you will have done much to 
obliterate the past from the minds of the people. I 
very much doubt whether those who so readily con¬ 
demn the Irish for their habit of looking back, really 
know what that past to which they revert consists of, 
for the details of Irish history are unknown to a great 
mass of Englishmen, and if it were not so, it is hardly 
credible that, during the Fenian outbreak, a writer in 
an English newspaper recommended the ‘ revival in 
Ireland of the stern measures of Cromwell.’ How 
few people know the real history, or the disastrous 
consequence of those fatal measures. Indeed, until a 
very recent period, the documents and state papers, 
which form the true foundation for authentic history, 
were hidden away in a little cell in Dublin Castle, 
covered with the dust of years. A skilful hand dis¬ 
lodged them from their hiding-place, and the f records 
of a nation’s woe ’ have at last seen the light of day, 


IRISH HEARTS. 


219 


and I only wish every Englishman and every English¬ 
woman were compelled to read these terrible revela¬ 
tions. The effect of the English government, only two 
centuries ago, was not only to 4 suppress a religion," 
but 4 rather to extinguish a nation.’ 4 Let us conceive," 
says Mr. Prendergast,* e the dismay of a poor noble¬ 
man, with his wife and daughters, on the evening of the 
first market day after the 11th of October, 1652, when 
some neighbour came to announce the news proclaimed 
by beat of drum and sound of trumpet in the adjoin¬ 
ing town. It was, in fact, the proscription of a nation. 
If he had been a colonel or a superior officer in the 
army, as almost all the highest were, it was a sentence 
of confiscation and banishment, and a separation from 
his now beggared wife and daughters, the partners of 
his miseries, unless he had the means of bringing them 
abroad with him. The Earl of Ormond, Primate Bram- 
hall, and all the Catholic nobility, and many of the 
gentry, were declared incapable of pardon of life or 
estate, and were banished. The rest of the nation were 
to lose their lands, and take up their residence wherever 
the Parliament of England should order. 

On 26th September, 1653, all the ancient estates and 
farms of the people of Ireland were declared to belong 
to the adventurers and the army of England; and it 
was announced that the Parliament had assigned Con¬ 
naught (America was not then accessible) for the habi¬ 
tation of the Irish nation, whither they must transplant, 
with their wives and daughters and children, before 
the 1st of May following (1654), under penalty of death, 


* Cromwellian-Settlement of Ireland. By John Prendergast. 


220 


IRISH HOMES AND 


if found on this side of the Shannon after that day. 
It might, perhaps, be imagined that this fearful sen¬ 
tence was a penalty upon the supposed bloodthirstiness 
of the Irish. But for blood, death and not banish¬ 
ment was the punishment, and the class most likely to 
be guilty of blood—the ploughmen, labourers, and 
others of the lower order of poor people—were ex¬ 
cepted from transplantation. The nobility and gentry 
of ancient descent, proprietors of landed estates, were 
incapable of murder or massacre; but it was they 
who were particularly required to transplant—their 
properties were wanted for the new English planters. 
There is an anecdote told by an Englishman of the 
order of the Friars Minor, who must have dwelt, 
disguised probably (a not uncommon incident) as a 
soldier or servant, in the household of Colonel In- 
goldsby. Governor of Limerick, that explains the 
reason why the common people were to be allowed 
to stay and the gentry required to transplant. He 
heard the question asked of a great Protestant states¬ 
man (‘ magnus haereticus consiliarius ’) who gave three 
reasons for it; first, he said, f they are useful to the 
English as earth-tillers and herdsmen; secondly, de¬ 
prived of their priests and gentry, and living among 
the English, it is hoped they will become Protestants; 
and, thirdly, the gentry without their aid must work 
for themselves and their families, or if they don’t must 
die, and if they do, will in time turn into common 
peasants. . . . Connaught was at that time the 
most wasted province of the kingdom. Sir Charles 
Coote the younger, disregarding the truce or cessation 
made by order of the king with the Irish in 1644 , had 


IRIS!! HEARTS. 


221 


continued to ravage it, like another Attila, with fire 
and sword. The order was for the flight of the Irish 
nation thither in winter time, their nobles, their gentry, 
and their commons, w r ith their wives and little children, 
their young maidens and old men, their cattle and 
their household goods. . . . And now there went 
forth petitions from every quarter of the kingdom, 
praying that the petitioners’ flight might not be in the 
winter time, or alleging that their wives or children 
were sick, their cattle unfit to drive. . . . The 
petitioners were the noble and the wealthy, men of 
ancient English blood, descendants of the invaders, 
the Fitzgeralds, the Butlers, the Plunkets, the Barn- 
walls, Dillons, Cheevers, Cusacks, who were now to 
transplant as Irish. The native Irish were too poor 
to pay scriveners and messengers to the council, and 
their sorrows were not heard, though under their rough 
coats beat hearts that felt pangs as great at being 
driven from their native homes as the highest in the 
land.’ 

The particulars of some of these petitions might 
have moved a heart of stone: the aged, the palsied, 
the imbecile, the dropsical, those in * tedious and lan¬ 
guishing sickness’ cried out for mercy, and often coukl 
get none. The work was accomplished, and ^Ireland, 
in the language of Scripture, now lay void as a wil¬ 
derness.’ Five-sixths of her people had perished, 
women and children were found daily perishing in 
ditches, starved. The bodies of many wandering 
orphans, whose fathers had embarked for Spain and 
whose mothers had died of famine, were preyed upon 
by wolves. In the years 1652 and 1653, the plague 


222 


IRISH HOMES AND 


and famine had swept away whole counties, so that a 
man might travel twenty or thirty miles and not see a 
living creature. Man, beast, and bird were all dead, 
or had quitted these desolate places. The troops would 
tell stories of the place where they saw a smoke, it 
was so rare to see smoke by day, or fire or candle by 
niadit. If two or three cabins were met with, there 
were found there none but aged men, with women 
and children, and they, in the words of the prophet, 
f become like a bottle in the smoke, their skins black 
like an oven because of the terrible famine.’ In fact, 
says Mr. Prendergast in his preface, f in 1652, took 
place a scene not witnessed in Europe, since the 
conquest of Spain by the Yandals. Indeed, it is 
injustice to the Yandals to equal them with the English 
of 1652, for the Yandals came as strangers and con¬ 
querors in an age of force and barbarism, nor did 
they banish the people though they seized and divided 
their lands by lot.’ Cromwell’s reign was brief, but 
the effect of his cruelties remained in Ireland. The 
imprisonment in Connaught ended, and by degrees 
the country was repeopled; but the lands of the Irish 
were confiscated, their property was gone, and if for a 
short period there was some appearance that justice 
would be done, all hope was lost again after the battle 
of the Boyne, for that victory was followed by the 
4 Revolution Settlement.’ By it the lands lately re¬ 
stored to the Royalist English and few native Irish 
were again seized by the Parliament of England, and 
distributed among the conquering nation. 

At the court for the sale of estates forfeited on 
account of the war of 1690, the lands could be pur- 


IRISH HEARTS. 


223 


chased only by Englishmen. No Irishman could 
purchase more than the site for a cabin; for to the 
condition of cottagers it was intended that the relics of 
the nation should be reduced. From that time to 
1798 the penal laws remained in full force. ‘ Their 
main purpose was, on the one hand, to prevent the 
Irish from ever enlarging their landed interests, for 
which purpose they were forbid to purchase land ; and, 
on the other hand, to contrive by all political ways, 
and particularly by denying them the power to make 
settlements of their property by deed or will, and by 
making their lands divisible equally among their sons 
at their death, to crumble and break in pieces the 
remnant that had escaped confiscation, and thereby to 
deprive them of all power and consideration in the 
state.’ Such are a few records of the past on which 
Ireland looks back, and for which England owes her 
a long and heavy compensation. Not seventy years 
have passed since the repeal of the worst of the penal 
laws, and not forty have expired since Catholic Eman¬ 
cipation. How, in that brief space of time, can it be 
expected that a nation can recover from ravages like 
these ? Even had the reign of full and free justice 
commenced in 1829, who could expect that the work of 
centuries (for the Cromwellian cruelties were only a 
continuation and aggravation of those heaped on Ire¬ 
land since the Reformation) could be undone in less 
than half a century? But, alas! that reign of justice 
did not beerin. Concessions to Ireland have been 
meted out at rare intervals, and with niggard hands, 
and many an element which ministers to discontent 
has been left to smoulder in the hearts of the people ; 


224 


IRISH HOMES AND 


for how is it to be expected that Ireland will forget her 
past miseries while the badge of conquest is held ever 
before her eyes? The Irish Church Establishment is 
called a sentimental grievance; my impression is en¬ 
tirely the contrary, I believe it to be perpetually irri¬ 
tating and galling the people. They laugh at it, it 
is true, but they feel it nevertheless. Such a state of 
things could never exist for a day in England or Scot¬ 
land, and yet both countries boast of possessing less 
sensitiveness, less imagination than the Irish. To the 
Irish the Establishment, is perpetually witnessing to 
the fact: f You are a conquered people, you are not an 
independent part of a great empire ; we have tried 
through long ages to force our new religion upon you, 
and though you have resisted us, you shall still have the 
result of our fruitless efforts before your eyes : we will 
not let you forget the past. Your fathers built cathedrals 
and parish churches; we took them from you, and for 
fear you should forget the fact, we will keep them still. 
True, they are no use to us ; our clergy have no flocks, 
our bishops nothing to do, but you shall keep your 
barn-like chapels, or impoverish yourselves in raising 
your churches, because you shall not have your own, 
for you are a conquered people.’ 

In days gone by the proprietor of a large tract of 
land in County Clare refused to give a site for a 
Catholic church ; f the people worshipped in the open 
air, carrying stones in their hands as they journeyed 
to the place of meeting, that they might not kneel in 
the mud. A sort of wooden canopy placed on wheels . 
was constructed to protect the movable altar, and is 


IRISH HEARTS. 225 

« 

still preserved as a memorial.* Stories such as these 
linger in the minds of the Irish, and the supremacy of 
the Establishment remains to keep the memories of 
them alive. 

Stories which illustrate the absurdity of the system 
tly about Ireland in all directions, and are related with 
bursts of merriment round the fireside. A Protestant 
clergyman was once reproved by his bishop for hold¬ 
ing his Sunday service at an unusually late hour. He 
replied that he could not help it, for he had to wait for 
his clerk till he came back from mass! 

4 In the parish where I live,’ said an Irish gentleman 
to me, the clergyman has 300^< per annum, and there 
is not one single Protestant in the place. The church 
is occupied simply by his own family and household. 7 

Closely connected with the Established Church is 
the terrible practice of f souperism,’ to which I have 
already alluded in these pages. I shall at once be told 
that it is foreign to the question, because souperism 
has nothing to do \tith law, and can neither be en¬ 
forced nor repealed by Act of Parliament. But it can 
be repealed by public opinion; and Avere its real work¬ 
ing and results known, I belie\ T e public opinion would 
not be appealed to in vain, and in saying this, I am 
thinking less of the fairness and justice of Englishmen, 
than of their Avish to heal the discontent in Ireland. 

The evil done by souperism in estranging the two 
nations is incalculable. It is perpetually putting Eng¬ 
lish people in an irritating light before the eyes of the 
Irish. They come as foes, not as friends. Amidst all 

* The Church Settlement of Ireland. By Aubrey de Vere. 

Q 


226 


IRISH HOMES AND 


their sufferings and persecutions, the Irish have kept 
their religion intact. From Henry VIII. to Queen 
Victoria they have clung to their faith, and ‘ soupers’ 
are like robbers come to pillage their homes; and they 
come with English hands and English voices ; from the 
lady who boasts in Connemara that she has converted 
an ‘ aconite ’ (i.e. acolyte) to the Bishop of Oxford, 
who highly approved and commended the ‘conversion 
movement,’ which, be it well remembered, originated 
in the time of the famine. ‘If,’ says the Protestant 
Chancellor of Cork, one of the few Protestant clergy¬ 
men who abhor and expose the ‘ souper ’ system, ‘ his 
lordship has been totally misinformed, I am very sorry 
for it; but I am fully persuaded he would see cause 
to change his mind if he were acquainted with the facts 
which I and so many other clergy would have fur¬ 
nished.’ 

Dr. Forbes visited Connemara some ten or twelve 
years ago, and with his usual rigid impartiality endea¬ 
voured to test the ‘ reports ’ of the souper societies. 
If the subject were not such a sad one, the shrewd 
remarks of the worthy Protestant doctor would be 
very amusing. The Irish Church Missions had de¬ 
clared they had between 5,000 and 6,000 converts in 
West Galway, and that their labours had thus ren¬ 
dered ‘ a district extending fifty miles in breadth 
characteristically Protestant, which but a few years 
ago was characteristically Romish.’ This, says Dr. 
Forbes, ‘must be regarded rather as an expression 
of an amiable and sanguine enthusiasm, commingling 
the hopes of the future with the over apprecia¬ 
tion of the present, than the sober definition of a 


IRISH HEARTS. 


227 


realityfor he goes on to remark that county Galway 
is only eighty miles long, and its population by the 
last census before this statement appeared, 298,564. 
He went to visit Clifden workhouse, where he finds 
840 inmates, ten of whom are Protestants. But then 
of course it is but fair to admit that f converts ’ would 
not be found in the union, as their temporal wants are 
well attended to. The same report, to which Dr. 
Forbes’s attention was drawn, stated that in addition 
to these 5,000 or 6,000 converts, who are supposed 
to take up fifty miles of the county, and leave the re¬ 
maining thirty for the happy 298,064, f nearly 5,000 
children of converts or Romanists daily attend the 
scriptural schools of the Society.’ But when the 
Doctor came to investigate the matter, he thought e it 
-would be interesting to know what was the relative 
proportion of the two classes of children,’ and believes 
that 4 the great majority of these children are not only 
the children of Catholic parents, but are in no other 
way Protestants, except as attending such schools, and 
a certain portion of them going to the Protestant 
Church; ’ and adds that the Catholic parents them¬ 
selves told him they permitted their children to join 
these schools chiefly for the sake of the food and 
clothing supplied to them.’ Dr. Forbes was evidently 
convinced at the end of his researches, that the great 
wealth of the souper societies had been almost thrown 
away, as far as gaining converts was concerned, and 
only tended to keep up a spirit of irritation and dislike 
in the minds of the people. ‘ There is only one dis¬ 
advantage,’ says he, c attendant on the use of the “ stir¬ 
about” weapons employed by the missionaries, in the 


228 


IRISH HOMES AND 


handle it gives the enemy to maintain, even if con¬ 
quered, that they are defeated by carnal, not by spi¬ 
ritual weapons;’ and he continues, ‘the triumph of the 
Protestants, if they are to triumph, would be purer, 
grander, and more decisive, if they could boast that 
their victory was the exclusive result of the goodness 
of their cause, and their own personal friends. At 
present they certainly give nearly as good grounds to 
their enemies for bestowing on Protestantism the nick¬ 
name of the ‘ Stirabout Creed,’ as the honest Laird of 
Rum in olden times gave to his Catholic subjects for 
bestowing on it the nickname of the e Religion of the 
Yellow Stick.’ I give the history of this transaction 
in Dr. Johnson’s own words : ‘ The rent of Rum is 
not great; Mr. Maclean declared he should be rich if 
he could let his land at two pence halfpenny an acre. 
The inhabitants are fifty-eight families, who continued 
Papists for some time after the laird became a Pro¬ 
testant. Their adherence to their old religion was 
strengthened by the countenance of the laird’s sister, 
a zealous Romanist, till one Sunday, as they were 
going to mass, under the conduct of their patroness, 
Maclean met them on the way, gave one of them a 
blow on the head with a yelloio stick , I suppose a cane, 
for which the Erse has no name, and drove them to 
the kirk, from which they have never since departed. 
Since the use of this method of correction, the inhabi¬ 
tants of Egg and Canna, who continued Papists, call 
the Protestantism of Rum the religion of the Yelloio 
Stick' Dr. Forbes winds up his remarks on souperism 
by saying that to the minds of many 6 it will ap¬ 
pear unjustifiable to seek to attain Protestantism in 


IRISH HEARTS. 


229 


Ireland at the risk of the comfort or peace of a nation 
which is profoundly devoted to Catholicism, proud of 
its peculiar doctrines, and happy in the practices they 
enjoin.’ 

It is the fashion to say that were the Establishment 
swept away, souperism would become more rampant— 
that all the Protestant clergy then would become a sort 
of spiritual Bashi Bazouks, instead of being, as the 
majority now are, quiet country gentlemen with nothing 
to do. But facts prove the contrary, as it has been 
truly said, e The ascendency would be too obviously 
absurd if it acknowledged the Catholicism of the nation 
as the permanent order of things; that Catholicism it 
therefore is forced to regard as but an accident, des¬ 
tined to vanish before the zeal of a church planted for 
the purpose of compelling the nation to come in.’* And 
Protestant bishops are continually asserting that the 
Irish Church is a f missionary ’ one, and the heathen to 
be brought into its pale are the Homan Catholics. An 
English clergyman, a man of cultivation and intelli¬ 
gence, and of the f High-church ’ school runs over for 
a few weeks to Ireland, and when summing up his 
f impressions ’ on the state of religion in Ireland, 
quotes the opinion of a friend which he evidently 
approves of and indorses. f Where is that Church of 
the future to be found ? I think I see a nucleus near 
home, and where you would least expect to find it in a 
Church despised and rejected of men, a Church that has 
f laid her body as the ground and as the streets to them 
that walk over. I could not but think of the Church of 


* The Church Settlement of Ireland. By Aubrey de Vere. 


230 


1KISH HOMES AND 


Ireland —not the Irish branch of the English Church, 
but the Church of the people (not the priests') of Ireland 
— as the fifty-first of Isaiah was read yesterday. I 
know the Irish people well, and their faith, love, and 
poverty, and through all their poverty, “ the riches of 
their liberality,” and I cannot think that God ever did 
desert or ever will desert them. They have long lain 
under an incubus of Romanism on the one hand and of 
English persecution on the other. In our days the 
English element of oppression has been removed; there 
is nothing now to complain of, but Rome has latterly 
been making her yoke heavier and heavier. The 
present Archbishop Cullen has been striving to in¬ 
troduce Ultramontanism and all its darkest doctrines, 
and at present he has filled the land with his 
priests. But I do not think he has sensibly affected 
the faith of the people, and I rather hope that a 
time of reaction may be at hand, how to be brought 
about I know not; but yet I think the dawn is 
even now brightening the sky. I do not think the 
Irish people will come as a body into the English 
Established Church, nor do I wish them to do so, but 
I do think a time is coming when the Church, cast¬ 
ing off its slavery to Rome, will return to the faith 
of St. Patrick and St. Columba, and then to it will 
flock the better part of the State Church, and we shall 
have (whether I live to see it or not) a free Catholic 
Church in Ireland, a church free from Rome, and 
free from England’s oath of supremacy , but of the 
ancient Catholic faith and apostolic succession, and 
ready to communicate with every church holding like 
faith. What a support would such a church be to the 


IRISH HEARTS. 


231 


poor government-ridden Church of England! How 
nobly the Irish people would then be avenged of her 
who laid a yoke on them in Henry the Second’s time, 
which has ever since pressed into their flesh.’* 

If such a farrago of nonsense can be put forth by a 
clergyman of this stamp, what can not be expected 
from those of the Exeter Hall type ? 

In the course of my travels, I came across a priest, well 
advanced in years, who had spent his whole life labour¬ 
ing hard for the good of his people. He was a very 
superior man, warm-hearted, genial, and considerate 
towards all. He would never have spoken a harsh word 
to any who differed from him, and kindly deeds for 
others seemed to be spontaneous to his nature. Yet 
such a man is obliged to say publicly, f The elaborate 
machinery for the subversion of the Christian faith of 
the destitute poor, and for bringing up and rearing their 
children in Protestantism, is a thing unknown in any 
other part of the civilised world, nor would it be tole¬ 
rated in any.’ And he asks : 4 How are we to encoun¬ 
ter this enormous and infamous traffic, which is carried 
on around us, and sustained by English gold ?’ 

Favourite instruments in the hands of the soupers 
are placards of the kind most likely to insult and out¬ 
rage the feelings of the sensitive people amongst whom 
they live, and the walls of quiet towns and villages, filled 
with Catholics, are stuck over with, ‘ Is not the Pope 
Antichrist?’ and ‘ Rome, the mother of Harlots;’ and 
in the parish of the very priest I have been speaking of, 
the rector of the Established Church placards the walls 


* A Holiday in Ireland in 1861. 


232 


IRISH HOMES AND 


with a sentence which he plumes himself on having 
invented: ( The Papacy came hot from hell, and its 
presence makes a hell upon earth.’ If the placards of 
the Fenians are torn down, and those who posted them 
are liable to punishment, because they tend directly to 
rebellion, surely the perpetrators of such outrages, 
which most assuredly tend indirectly to the same end, 
should be restrained. If insults such as these to 
the faith of a nation are allowed to pass unpun¬ 
ished—if men in England, who load Ireland with 
good advice, who profess to be perpetually studying 
her interests, do not raise their voices against it— 
it is no wonder that Fenianism breaks out, and that not 
an Irish Catholic’s heart really clings to and trusts in 
the good intentions and good faith of what is called, in 
refined irony, f the sister country.’ The intense na¬ 
tionality of the Irish has often been spoken of. I do 
not think anyone but those who have lived in the 
country can form an idea of its strength. An Eng¬ 
lishman is said to love his country; but for the most 
part—owing, no doubt, to the state of quiet prosperity 
under which we have lived so long—it shows itself in a 
calm content, and a lofty contempt for the inhabitants 
of less favoured lands. With the Irish it is a passion, 
a motive power for their daily conduct, the theme of 
their conversation, the object of their thoughts. Not 
a nun in a quiet convent but whose heart beats quick 
when Ireland is spoken of; the poor and the ignorant 
take a vivid interest in the hopes and fears concern¬ 
ing the future of the country. Can this spirit of 
nationality be turned in the direction of an at¬ 
tachment to the United Empire? The Irish, who are 


IRISH HEARTS. 


233 


bid to love England, find themselves under a sovereign 
who, in her long reign of thirty years, has but twice, 
for a few days, set her foot on Irish shores. They see 
the heir apparent make the tour of half the world, but 
knowing nothing of the scenery, habits, and character 
of the people of one of the fairest parts of his future 
empire ; they see their chief ruler come and go with 
every change of ministry, no sooner having learnt some¬ 
thing of the people than he is ordered away; they see 
him, on coming into office, take an oath containing 
words which they believe to be blasphemous before 
God and grossly insulting to them; they see a charter 
persistently refused to their Catholic University—a 
system of education introduced 4 which ignores the na¬ 
tionality and excludes the religion of the country, in 
which the schoolmaster is afraid to read one of Moore’s 
ballads, for fear he should be thought to be teaching 
sedition, and the crucifix kept hid in a box in a corner 
of the room.’ * And is it to be wondered at, then, 
that their affections turn to the past, 4 and their pride 
attaches itself less to the greatness of an empire in 
which they have an unequal part than to recollec¬ 
tions sad and dear in which none claim a part with 
them ’ ? f 

Of course no one can live in Ireland without per¬ 
ceiving that some of the evils that exist might be re¬ 
medied by the people themselves, and that a certain 
amount of the fault may be laid at their own door. 
They brood too much over the past, they are too easily 
depressed by difficulties, and they allow minor dissen- 

* Dublin Review, April 1867. 

f The Church Settlement of Ireland . By Aubrey de Vere. 


234 


IRISH HOMES AND 


tions to split up their interests and prevent the action 
of a united people. The demands of a united Ireland 
no English government could resist, but when there 
is little hope there is little union. 4 It is often asked 
why Ireland has not sent more petitions to Parliament 
on the subject of the Church. It had little hope of 
success. A nation that has ceased to hope has be¬ 
come formidable.’ * These things are well known to 
the thoughtful among them, and it is their task—not 
our’s—to point them out. As for us, I know not with 
what face we can preach to the Irish, and thrust our 
superior commercial superiority in their faces—we who 
are descendants of those who have done them such 
bitter wrong. 

Unstanch’d is the wound 
While the insult remains. 

Distrust the repentance that clings to its booty ; 

Give the people their Church, and the priesthood its right; 

Till then to remember the past is a duty; 

For the past is our cause, 

And our cause is our might, f 

The 4 Irish Homes ’ that I have tried, however im¬ 
perfectly, to describe, are a witness to what the Irish 
can do and have done; out of their poverty, and their 
suffering, and their difficulties they have raised one 
after another of these noble institutions, which in all 
material things may vie with the grand establishments 
in England, on which English wealth has been so 
lavishly expended; while from the spirit in which they 
are carried on, they far excel the results of our splendid 
efforts. In these Irish Homes I have tried to show the 


* Church Settlement, Sfc. 


f Aubrey de Vere. 


IRISH HEARTS. 


235 


‘ Irish hearts ’ which animate them. These witness to 
us of what Irishmen and women can do and have done. 
They have not dreamed away their lives, given up 
enterprises in despair, talked about f poor despised 
Ireland,’ and then run away from her to follow in the 
train of English fashion ; they have remained in their 
country, worked for her, lived for her, suffered for her, 
and the land where hearts such as these can be counted 
by thousands, where homes such as these can be found 
at every turn, I cannot believe is destined to perish. 

Success and prosperity are not God’s best blessings 
for individuals ; they may not be for nations. 

Endurance it was that won, 

Suffering than action thrice greater.* 

Ireland in her suffering and her poverty may be more 
blessed than her prosperous neighbours ; what looks like 
failure may be in reality a success, and when the deeds 
of nations shall be reviewed, poor and despised as she is 
now, Ireland may be found to have played no ignoble 
part in the world’s history ; but surely it is not im¬ 
possible that the time should come when England will 
at last generously and entirely repeal the wrongs of 
Ireland, when the past will be forgotten in the peace 
and content of the present, when America will find 
no longer any rebellious spirit to fan, and when the 
kingdoms will be so united that it can no longer be 
said with truth— 

The emerald gem of the western world 
Was set in the brow of a stranger. 


* Aubrey de Vere. 


''I 


'V 



INDEX. 


♦ 


ABB 

Abbey, Clare, 207 
Abbeys, 3 

Aitkenhead, Mrs., 25, 30 
All Hallows, college of, 91 
America, cousins in, 25 
Ancient places, 3 
Angela Fitzsimons, 12 
Anspacb, Caroline of, 187 
Archbishop, Cardinal, of Dublin, 52 
Armagh, Archbishop of, 119 
Arran, Isles of, 181 
Asylum for blind boys, 37 

— for lunatics, 79 

— Magdalene, 28 
Athenry, 193 
Athlone, 176 
Aughrim, battle of, 176 
Avila, a second, 197 

Baggot Street convent, 44 
Battle of Aughrim, 176 
Belgium, lunatic asylum in, 85 
' Bethlehem,’ 183 
‘ Birds’ Nest,’ 94 
Blind asylum for boys, 67 

— child, death of, 36 

— education of, 35 

— girl’s poetry, 38 

— home for, 32 

‘ Bonnets, White,’ the, 77 
Bray, 209 
Bridget Burke, 109 
Brothers, Christian, 73, 180, 208 
Buckingham, Duchess of, 183 

Cardinal Archbishop of Dublin, 52 
Carmel, Mount, 193 


DEP 

Carmelite Friars, 193 
Carmelites, 12, 193, 211 
Caroline of Anspach, 187 
Cathedral of Killarney, 163 
Catherine Plunkett, 117 
Charity, French Sisters of, 21 

— Irish Sisters of, 24, 152, 178 
Charleville, 172 

— journey to it, 173 

—• Sisters of Mercy at, 174 
Chichester, Lord Deputy, 4 
Christian Brothers, 73, 180, 208 
Clare Abbey, 207 
Clare’s, St., Newry, 126 
Clares, Poor, 125, 168, 187, 215 
College of All Hallows, 91 
Confraternities, 109, 128, 164 
Confraternity of the Sacred Heart, 
109 

Contemplative orders, 197 
Convalescent Home, 23 
‘Cord,’ 120 
‘ Cornette,’ 113 
Costume, 202 
Cousins in America, 25 
Crimean war, 161 
Cromwell’s cannon, 112 
Cromwellian settlement, 219 

Dalkey, 209 

Daniel O’Connell, grave of, 75 
Deaf and dumb boys, home for, 
68 

— nun, 75 

Deaf-mutes, character of, 71 
Death of blind child, 36 
Deputy, the Lady, 182 





238 


INDEX. 


DIS 

District schools, 194 
Dominic’s, St., 110 
Donnybrook Green, 27 

— chapel at, 29 

— church at, 28 
Drogheda, 111 
Drumcondra, 86 

Duchess of Buckingham, 183 

Education of blind, 35 
Emigration, 206 
Employment for reformatory, 90 
Ennis, drive to, 207 

— station at, 207 

Faith, Sisters of, 95 
Famine, Irish, 96 
Fenianism, 217 
Fitzsimons, Angela, 12 
Forbes, Dr., 98, 163, 226 
Foreign orders, 77 
Foster-parents, 104 
Freeman’s Journal, 109 
French Sisters of Charity, 77 
Friars, Carmelite, 193 
Future of prisoners, 62 

Galway, 180 

— bay of, 181 
Gardiner Street, Upper, 26 

* Gate, St, Lawrence’s, 121 

— Butter, 117 
George the Second, 5 
George’s Hill, 14 
Gerald Griffin, 150 

— sister of, 179 

— poetry of, 179 
Ghosts in choir, 187 
Glasnevin, Blind Asylum at, 67 
Golden Bridge, 53, 57 

Gort, 200 

— Sunday at, 202 
Government institutions, 65 
Gravelines, 181 

Hamilton, Lady, 187 
Hanoria Nagle, 6 
Harold’s Cross, 31 
Harp, Sister Julia Blake’s, 184 
High Park Convent, 88 


KIL 

Holy Cross, Kenmare, 167 
‘Holy Ship,’ the, 175 
Home for Convalescents, 23 

— for Blind, 32 
Hospital, St. Vincent's, 22 

— leaving, 23 

— Jervis Street, 43 

— Mater Misericordise, 46 

— patients, 48 

— cholera in, 48 

— and palaces, 52 

— mediaeval system of, 50 

Industrial school, Dublin, 27 

— Newry, 128 

Infirmary, workhouse, at Galway, 
189 

— at Limerick, 135 
Ireland, visits to, 1 

— past history of, 2 

— history of, 144 

— ‘Memorandums in,’ 98 
Irish fun, 27 

— famine, 96 

— Church Missions, 97 

— manners, 177 

— sermon, 202 

— Sisters of Charity, 24 
Isles of Arran, 181 

Jackdaw’s nest, 164 
Jervis Street Hospital, 43 
Joseph, St., Sisters of, 92 

— Orphanage of, 93 

Judge O’Hagan, speech of, 49 

Katherine McAuley, 41 
Kenmare, 166 

— Abbey of Holy Cross, 167 

— poverty at, 168 

— lace making at, 168 

— and the history of Ireland, 170 

— Sunday at, 171 

— soupers at, 171 
Ivilfenora, 204 
Killarney, 162 

— Cathedral at, 163 

— lodgings in, 164 

— Sisters of Mercy at, 162 
Kilmacduagh, 204 





INDEX. 


239 


KIL 

Kilmacduagh round tower, 204 
Kilmallock, 172 

— and Earls of Desmond, 172 
Kirwan, Mrs., 58, 64 

Lady Deputy, 182 

— Hamilton, 187 
Lakelands, 213 
Lawrence’s, St., Gate, 121 
Letters, Miss Nagle’s, 10, 14, 15 
Limerick, 133 

— Cathedral, 134 

— Infirmary, 135 
Lindsey manufacture, 64 
Lines on Golden Bridge, 61 
Lodgings in Killarney, 164 
London, journey to, in 17^0, 187 
Lord Deputy Chichester, 4 
Loretto Sisters, 208 

Lough Cooter, 205 
Lough Ree, 183 
Loughrea, 193 
Louis XV., 7 
Lunatic asylum, 79 
Lunatics, management of, 84 

Madame Louise, 12 
Magdalene Asylum, 28 
Magdalene’s Tower, 121 
Manufacture of lindsey, 64 
Market Street, Galway, 186 
Mary and Dennis, story of, 60 
Mater Misericordiae Hospital, 46 
Maynooth College, 176 
McAuley, Katherine, 41 
Mecklenburgh Street, Dublin, 107 
* Memorandums in Ireland,’ Dr. 

Forbes’s, 98 
Mercy, Sisters of, 42 

— Houses of, 44 
Merrion, 40 
Monasterboice, 122 

Mother Mary Magdalene, 58, 63 
Mount Carmel, 193 
Moxmt Street, Dublin, 87 
Mountjoy Prison, 54 

Nagle, Hanoria, 6 
Newry, 123 

— Cathedral, 125 


ROU 

Night Refuge, 105 
North William Streeet, 77 
Nuns, 118, 195 
Nuns’ Island, 181 
Nursing Sisters, 87 

O’Connell, Daniel, grave of, 75 
Old Maids’ Home, 108 
Oliver Plunkett, 117 
Orange party at Newry, 125 
Oranmore, 176 

Orphanages: St. Vincent’s, Glas- 
nevin, 74 

— St. Vincent’s, Dublin, 78 

— St. Joseph’s, 93 

— St. Brigid’s, 100 
Our Lady’s Priory, 178 

Paris, 7 

Phoenix Park, 92 
Pilgrims, 4 

Plunkett, Archbishop, 117 

— Catherine, 117 
Poetry, blind girl’s, 38 

Poor Clares, 125, 168, 187, 215 
Portobello, 67 
Poverty at Kenmare, 168 
Presentation Order, 14, 17, 18, 
81, 116 

Priests hunted like wolves, 3 
Priory, Our Lady’s, 178 
Prison, Mountjoy, 54 

— Refhge, 53 
Prisoners in school, 56 

— future of, 62 
Profession of a nun, 32 
Protestant England, 4 

R’s, the three, 10 
Ranelagh, 214 
Rathfarnham Abbey, 209 
‘Red Nuns,’ 211 
Reformatory, High Park, 89 
Relics of Archbishop Plunkett, 120 

— at Newry, 128 
Return ticket, a, 63 
Revised Code, 10 
Richmond Convent, 81 

— Asylum, 79 
Round Tower, 204 



240 


INDEX. 


SAC 

Sacred Heart, nuns of, 91 

— Convent of, 92 

‘ Salve Regina,’ 119 
Sandymount, 213 
Schools, district, 190 

— industrial, 27, 128 
Shannon, 176 
Sherritt, Sister, 187 
Ship, the Holy, 175 
Sicard, M., 72 
Sienna Convent, 119 
Sisters of Charity, Irish, 24 

— of the Holy Faith, 95 

— of St. Joseph, 92 

— of Loretto, 208 

— of Mercy, Newry, 128; Gal¬ 
way, 191 ; Killarney, 162; Char- 
leville, 176; Kinsale, 154 ; Gort, 
200 

— of St. Vincent de Paul, 77 
Society of Jesus, Fathers of, 8 
Souper anecdote, 98 
Souperism, 95, 225 

Spain, exiles to, 184 
St. Brigid’s Society, 95 
-children, 100 

— Catherine’s Home, 27 

— Denis, 12 

) 


WOR 

) St. Dominic’s, 110 
— Francis Xavier,Gardiner Street, 
110 

— Joseph’s Orphanage, 93 
— Lawrence’s Gate, 121 
— Patrick’s Day, 5 
— Teresa, 197 

— Vincent’s Hospital, 22 
Stillorgan, 87 

Stones, crop of, 177 

Teresa, St., 197 
Ticket, a return, 63 
Tower, Round, 204 

Ursulines, 11, 13 

Val de Grace, Hospital of, 86 
Village Convent, 177 

‘ White Bonnets,’ 77 
Work, want of, 178 
Workhouse Infirmary at Limerick, 
135 

— Galway, 187 

— girls at Cork, 154 

— children at Galway, 190 


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W. S. Bennett and Otto Goldschmidt. Fcp. 4to. 12s. 6 d . 

Congregational Edition. Fcp. 2s. 

The CATHOLIC DOCTRINE of the ATONEMENT: an Historical 
Inquiry into its Development in the Church; with an Introduction on the 
Principle of Theological Developments. By II. N. Oxenham, M.A. for¬ 
merly Scholar of Balliol College, Oxford. Svo. 8s. Gd. 

FROM SUNDAY TO SUNDAY : an attempt to consider familiarly the 
Weekday Life and Labours of a Country Clergyman. By R. Gee, M.A. 
Vicar of Abbott’s Langley and Rural Dean. Fcp. 5s. 

Our Sermons : an Attempt to consider familiarly, hut reverently, the 
Preacher’s Work in the present day. By the same Author. Fcp. Gs. 

PALEY’S MORAL PHILOSOPHY, with Annotations. By Richard 
Whately, D.D. late Archbishop of Dublin. Svo. 7s. 



22 


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Travels , Voyages , tjr. 

ICE-CAVES of FRANCE and SWITZERLAND ; a Narrative of Sub¬ 
terranean Exploration. By the Rev. G. P. Browne, M.A. Fellow and 
Assistant-Tutor of St. Catherine’s Coll. Cambridge, M.A.C. With 11 Illus¬ 
trations on Wood. Square crown 8vo. 12s. 6 d. 

VILLAGE LIFE in SWITZERLAND. By Sophia D. Delmard. 

Post Svo. 9s. 6d. 

HOW WE SPENT the SUMMER; or, a Voyage en Zigzag in Switzer¬ 
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about 300 Illustrations, 15s. 

BEATEN TRACKS; or, Pen and Pencil Sketches in Italy. By the 
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Sketches from Drawings made on the Spot. Svo. 16s. 

MAP of the CHAIN of MONT BLANC, from an actual Survey in 

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Authority of the Alpine Club. In Chromolithography on extra stout 
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case, 12s. 6d. 

TRANSYLVANIA, its PRODUCTS and its PEOPLE. By Charles 

Boner. With 5 Maps and 43 Illustrations on Wood and in Chromolitho¬ 
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EXPLORATIONS in SOUTH WEST AFRICA, from Walvisch Bay to 

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VANCOUVER ISLAND and BRITISH COLUMBIA; their History, 

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HISTORY of DISCOVERY in our AUSTRALASIAN COLONIES, 

Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand, from the Earliest Date to the 
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The CAPITAL of the TYCOON; a Narrative of a Three Years’ Resi¬ 
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A SUMMER TOUR in the ORISONS and ITALIAN VALLEYS of 

the Bernina. By Mrs. Henry Fresheield. With 2 Coloured Maps and 
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Alpine Byeways; or, Light Leaves gathered in 1859 and 1860. By 

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GUIDE to the PYRENEES, for the use of Mountaineers. By 

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Guide to the Oberland and all Switzerland, excepting the Neighbour¬ 
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The GLADIATORS: A Tale of Rome and Judsea. By G. J. Wiiyte 
Melville. Crown 8vo. 5s. 

Digby Grand, an Autobiography. By the same Author. 1 vol. 5s-. 
Kate Coventry, an Autobiography. By the same. 1 vol. 5s. 

General Bounce, or the Lady and the Locusts. By the same. 1 vol. 5 s . 
Holmby House, a Tale of Old Northamptonshire. 1 vol. 5s. 

Good for Nothing, or All Down Hill. By the same. 1 vol. 6s. 

The Queen’s Maries, a Romance of Holyrood. 1 vol. 6s. 

The Interpreter, a Tale of the War. By the same. I vol. 5s. 

TALES from GREEK MYTHOLOGY. By George W. Cox, M.A. 
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Tales of the Gods and Heroes. By the same Author. Second 
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Tales of Thebes and Argos. By the same Author. Fcp. 4s. 6d. 

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Second Series, with Notes and an Introductory Essay on the Origin and 
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The WARDEN: a Novel. By Anthony Trollope. Crown 8vo. 2s. 6d. 

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GOETHE’S SECOND FAUST. Translated by John Anster, LL.D. 

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POETICAL WORKS of JOHN EDMUND READE; with final Revision 
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MOORE’S POETICAL WORKS, Cheapest Editions complete in 1 vol. 
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LAYS of ANCIENT ROME; with Ivry and the Armada. By the 
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tions by Eminent Artists, engraved on Wood by the Brothers Dalziel. 
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The 2ENEID of VIRGIL Translated into English Verse. By John 
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Crown Svo. 9s. 

The ILIAD of HOMER TRANSLATED into BLANK VERSE. By 

loir abod Charles Wright, M.A. late Fellow of Magd. Coll. Oxon. 2 vols. 
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The ILIAD of HOMER in ENGLISH HEXAMETER VERSE. By 

J Henry Dart, M.A. of Exeter College, Oxford: Author of ‘The Exile of 
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DANTE’S DIVINE COMEDY, translated in English Terza Pima by 
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8vo. 21s. 

I) 





28 


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ENCYCLOPAEDIA of RURAL SPORTS; a complete Account, His¬ 
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John Leech). 8vo. 42s. 

NOTES on RIFLE SHOOTING. By Captain Heaton, Adjutant of 

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The RIFLE, its THEORY and PRACTICE. By Arthur Walker 

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The FLY-FISHER’S ENTOMOLOGY. By Alfred Ronalds. With 

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HANDBOOK of ANGLING : Teaching Fly-fishing, Trolling, Bottom¬ 
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The CRICKET FIELD; or, the History and the Science of the Game 
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The Cricket Tutor; a Treatise exclusively Practical. By the same. 

l8mo. is. 

Cricketana. By the same Author. With 7 Portraits. Fcp. 5s. 

The HORSE-TRAINER’S and SPORTMAN’S GUIDE : with Consider¬ 
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nary Examination. By Digby Collins. Post Svo. 6s. 

The HORSE’S FOOT, and HOW to KEEP IT SOUND. By W. 

Miles, Esq. Ninth Edition, with Illustrations. Imperial Svo. 12s. 6d. 

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Remarks on Horses’ Teeth, addressed to Purchasers. By the same. 

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On DRILL and MANOEUVRES of CAVALRY, combined with Horse 
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BLAINE’S VETERINARY ART ; a Treatise on the Anatomy, Physi¬ 
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27 


The HORSE: with a Treatise on Draught. By William Youatt. 
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The Bog. By the same Author. Svo. with numerous Woodcuts, 6s. 

The DOG in HEALTH and DISEASE. By Stonehenge. With 70 

Wood Engravings. Square crown 8vo. 15s. 

The Greyhound. By the same Author. Revised Edition, with 24 
Portraits of Greyhounds. Square crown 8vo. 21s. 

The OX ; his Diseases and their Treatment: with an Essay on Parturi¬ 
tion in the Cow. By J. R. Dobson, M.R.C.V.S. Crown Svo. with Illustrations, 
price 7s. 6d. 


Commerce , Navigation , and Mercantile Affairs. 

BANKING, CURRENCY, and the EXCHANGES : a Practical Trea¬ 
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Post Svo. 6s. 

The THEORY and PRACTICE of BANKING. By Henry Dunning 

Macleod, M.A. Barrister-at-Law. Second Edition, entirely remodelled. 
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PRACTICAL GUIDE for BRITISH SHIPMASTERS to UNITED 

States Ports. By Pierrepont Edwards, Her Britannic Majesty’s Vice- 
Consul at New York. Post 8vo. 8s. GcA 

A NAUTICAL DICTIONARY, defining the Technical Language re¬ 
lative to the Building and Equipment of Sailing Vessels and Steamers, &c. 
By Arthur Young. Second Edition; with Plates and 150 Woodcuts. 
8vo. 18s. 

A DICTIONARY, Practical, Theoretical, and Historical, of Com¬ 
merce and Commercial Navigation. By J. R. M‘Culloch, Esq. Svo. with 
Maps and Plans, 50s. 

A MANUAL for NAVAL CADETS. By J. M‘Neil Boyd, late Cap¬ 
tain R.N. Third Edition; with 240 Woodcuts and 11 coloured Plates. 
Post Svo. 12s. G d. 

The LAW of NATIONS Considered as Independent Political Com¬ 
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Works of Utility and General Information. 

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Newly revised and enlarged; with 8 Plates, Figures, and 150 Woodcuts. 
Fcp. 7s. Qd. 

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A PRACTICAL TREATISE on BREWING ; with Formulae for Public 

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Second Edition. Pep. 3s. 6(7. 

NOTES on HOSPITALS. By Florence Nightingale. Third Edi¬ 
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C. M. WILLICH’S POPULAR TABLES for ascertaining the Value 
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INDEX 


Abbott on Sight and Touch. 

Acton’s Modern Cookery . 

Alcocr’s Residence in Japan . 

Allies on Formation of Christendom. 

Alpine Guide (The) . 

Apjobn’s Manual of the Metalloids. 

Ahago's Biographies of Scientific Men .... 

-Popular Astronomy. 

Arnold’s Manual of English Literature_ 

Arnott’s Elements of Physics. 

Arundines Cami. 

Atherstone Priory. 

Autumn holidays of a Country Parson .. 
Ay re’s Treasury of Bible Knowledge. 

Bacon’s Essays, by Whatelv. 

-Life and Letters, by Speddino. 

-Works. 

Bain on the Emotions and Will. 

-on the Senses and Intellect. 

-on the Study of Character. 

Baines’s Explorations in S. W. Africa .... 

Ball’s Alpine Guide. 

Barnard’s Drawing from Nature. 

Bayldon’s Rents and Tillages. 

Beaten Tracks. 

Becker’s Charicles and Gallus . 

Beethoven’s Letters. 

Benfey’s Sanskrit Dictionary. 

Berry’ s Journals and Correspondence .... 

Black’s Treatise on Brewing . 

Blackley arid Fhiedlander’s Germun and 

English Dictionary ... 

Blaine’s Rural Sports. 

-Veterinary Art. 

Blight’s Week at the Laud’s End. 

Boase’s Essay on Human Nature . 

-Philosophy of Nature. 

Booth’s Epigrams. 

Boner’s Transylvania. 

Bourne on Screw Propeller. 

Bourne’s Catechism of the Steam Engine.. 

-Handbook of Steam Engine. 

-Treatise on the Steam Engine... 

Bowdlkr’s Family Shakspearf.. 

Boyd’s Manual for Naval Cadets. 

Bramley-Moore’s Six Sisters of the Valleys 
Brande’s Dictionary of Science,Literature, 

and Art. 

Bray’s (C.) Education of the Feelings. 

-Philosophy of Necessity. 

-on Force. 

Brinton on Food and Digestion. 

Bristow’s Glossary of Mineralogy. 

Bkodie’s (Sir C. B.) Works. 

-Autobiography. 

-Constitutional History. 


Browne’s Ice Caves of France and Switzer¬ 
land ... 

-Exposition 39 Articles. 

-Pentateuch . 

Buckle’s History of Civilization. 

Bull’s Hints to Mothers. 

- Maternal Management of Children. 

Bunsen’s Ancient Egypt. 

Bunsen on Apocrypha. 

Burke’s Vicissitudes of Families. 

Burton’s Christian Church . 


Cabinet Lawyer. 

: Calvert’s Wife’s Manual. 

: Campaigner at Home. 

i Cats’ and Farlib’s Moral Emblems. 

Chorale Book for England . 

Clough’s Lives from Plutarch. 

Colenso (Bishop) on Pentateuch and Book 

of Joshua. 

Collins’s Horse-Trainer’s Guide . 

Columbus’s Voyages. . 

! Commonplace Philosopher in Town and 

Country.... 

Conington’s Translation of Virgil’s 
i Contanseau’s Pocket French and English 

j Dictionary. 

j -Practical ditto.. 

Conybearb and Howson’s Life and Epistles 

[ of St. Paul. 

i Cook oil the Acts. 

Cook’s Voyages . 

Copland's Dictionary of Practical Medicine 

J-Abridgment of ditto . 

; Cox’s Tales of the Great Persian War. 

1 -Tales from Greek Mythology. 

j --Tales of the Gods and Heroes . 

! -Tales of Thebes and Argos . 

Cresy’s Encyclopaedia of Civil Engineering 

Critical Essays of a Country Parson. 

Crowe’s History of France . 

Crump on Banking,Currency,&Exchanges 
Cussans’s Grammar of Heraldry . 


Dart’s Iliad of Homer. 

Dayman’s Dante’s Divina Commedia. 

D'Aubigne’s History of the Reformation in 

the time of Calvin. 

Dead Shot (The), by Marksman . 

De la Rive’s Treatise on Electricity. 

Delmard’s Village Life in Switaerland .... 

De la Pryme’s I fife of Christ . 

Dk Morgan on Matter and Spirit. 

De Tocqoeville's Democracy in America.. 

Dobson ou the Ox. 

Duncan and Millard ou Classification, &<:. 
j of the Idiotic. 


10 

27 

22 

20 

22 

12 

5 

10 

7 

11 

25 

23 

8 

19 

5 

5 

5 

10 

10 

10 

22 

’.3 

16 

18 

22 

24 

4 

8 

4 

23 

8 

26 

26 

23 

9 

9 

9 

22 

17 

17 

17 

17 

25 

27 

24 

13 

10 

10 

10 

27 

11 

15 

15 

2 















































































































oO 


NEW WORKS PUBLISHED by LONGMANS and CO. 


Dyer’s City of Rome . 

Edwards’ Shipmaster’s Guide. 

E lements of Botany. 

Ellice, a Tale. 

Ellicott’s Broad and Narrow Way . 

- Commentary on Ephesians. 

-Destiny of the Creature. 

- Lectures on Life of Christ. 

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